Sword Art Online: Alicization Nightshade
by scrambled888
Summary: "Why am I here? I've awoken in a strange world, too realistic to be virtual, but controlled by systems too strange to be real. I can't remember a thing." When a second saviour finds himself inside Underworld, what new possibilities open before him, unleashing new and terrifying consequences that threaten the souls that live there. Crossover of SAO and my own series.
1. Prologue

**I do not own or am affiliated with Sword Art Online. All original characters are designed by me.**

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Prologue

Falling

I was falling…falling…falling…

Everything was pitch black. It was cold. It almost felt like I was nothing.

_That's right, I fell into that black hole. And now I'm dying…_

_I'm sorry Holly._

I moved my fingers, trying to feel for the blade that was still supposed to be in my hand. But there was nothing. I tried opening my eyes, and this bright light was blinding me.

_Wait, what's going on?_

I was actually falling, and the ground was coming to meet me.

"OH SHI-"

And then everything went black again…

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**Hello everyone, and welcome to my crossover of SAO and my own series, No Land Beyond.**

**Apologies for the really short Prologue, but it's supposed to be a really short insight into the series. Chapter 1 is where I'll start introducing the main character, where he starts, and lay out his journey. I'm not going to reveal a lot about my series until later, as you don't need to know a lot about it at the beginning. It has the same premise as SAO, trapped in a Virtual World, die in the game, die in real life etc.**

**This will take place during Alicization. The main character's journey will begin a week before Kirito's, which is really just 5 minutes in the real world. No, this isn't a rehash of Alicization. Kirito's journey will run parallel to the main character's until they meet. And then the story will start to go into it's own original spin.**

**Don't expect a standard upload schedule, as I am rather busy IRL and with FB Rewrite, as that one is my priority.**

**So until next time, Stay Cool.**

**EDIT: Yes, this is different to the original prologue. I have explained why in Chapter 9.**


	2. 1: Awakening

**Welcome to the first chapter of Alicization Nightshade.**

**Apologies again for the Prologue being short. I wouldn't have published it if I knew how quickly I would write this. But anyway, it's here now and I hope you enjoy this introduction.**

**See you at the bottom**

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Chapter 1

Awakening

_How did I get here?_

A cold sensation was on my forehead. I blinked as I found myself on a bed, staring at a ceiling that I didn't recognise. Distant clattering confirmed I wasn't alone.

I reached up to my forehead and removed the white towel that was completely soaked, confirming that it was water on my head and not sweat. I was a little worried that I had caught the flu or something.

I looked to my left. There were three beds that were empty, wrapped in thin blankets and an even thinner pillow that was propped up with a folded blanket. The noise was coming from behind a set of two dark wooden doors. To my right, there was another set of beds. It looked like there was ten, maybe more. A mosaic tapestry lined the back wall, which looked like three women fighting a demon.

I took a moment to look in a pool of water. My brown hair was messy, but cut short. It only took a moment to brush it forward into a normal looking state. My eyes matched my hair colour. A drop of water rolled down my pale skin which I wiped away. My outfit was a thin grey top and brown pants, a pair of black boots sat at the end of my bed.

The door opened as I swung my legs around to sit up. A gasp came from the same direction, followed by someone running away. I wiped away the residue on my head in time for the door to open once again, this time with two woman, clad the black robes and white neck piece of a nun, walking over to me. One of them, a middle aged woman who still had perfect skin, but greys were starting to form in her black hair that was tied back in a bun. The other was obviously a lot younger, no older than 18 years it seemed, with scarlet hair that was partially tied back to form a fountain hairstyle.

The older woman leaned towards me and placed her hand in front of me, extending two fingers and drawing an S shape. "How are you feeling boy?"

"A little light headed." I looked at her as a purple window opened where her fingers had drawn the S. "Where exactly am I?"

"You're in Vetal, inside the Wesdarath Empire." The older woman looked rather concerned. "A trader found you out in the field and brought you here. You were completely dead to the world."

I looked at the window that was still hovering in the air. "I can't remember…"

The younger girl suddenly gasped. "Sister Fornell, I remember hearing one of the market stalls talking about something falling out of the sky."

Sister Fornell sighed. "You shouldn't subscribe to petty rumours. Now, what do you remember boy?"

I searched my memory for anything but very little came back to me. "My name is Light. The last thing I remember…I was fighting someone. I think I hated them for some reason."

"Well, at least you remember your name." Sister Fornell sighed. The purple window closed as she leaned back to stand up straight. "Well, I suppose Myne here will be willing to show you around town and get you accustomed to your…new life I guess. I shall go and prepare a more permanent bed. I doubt you have any family around here if you were found in a field."

I slowly pushed myself onto my feet, finding myself to be a little wobbly. "Thank you. If there's any way to repay your kindness…" I doubted just anyone would allow a stranger to stay in their place.

"Myne can explain what is expected of you while you stay in the church." Sister Fornell nodded before walking out.

_Church? This is a church?_ I frowned as I looked around. It looked more like a hospital ward, with all the beds pushed against the walls in long rows.

The younger girl Myne, suddenly burst with energy, squealing. "I can't believe it! I prayed last night that Stacia would give me a sign, and then you fall out of the sky!" I raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Oh man, this is one event I must write down in my diary. After showing you around of course." Myne grabbed my hand and begun pulling me.

This girl seemed so full of energy that I just shook my head and let her drag me along, picking up the pair of boots off the floor. She took me down a flight of steps and through a large set of oak doors. I was blinded temporarily by the sun which was high in the sky.

The town was rather large, made up of several buildings made of a stone first floor and a second floor mostly made of wood and a roof of hay. They seemed to be put together rather well, but were showing signs of wear and in terms of size, they were about a third of the size of the church, which was rather huge looking at it from the outside. I couldn't see more than two or three living in them. Just outside the church was a market which was packed with people, taking away vegetables, meat and pottery which was being sold at several stalls. The chapel itself was a long building. The ward I was in seemed to take up most of the second floor, with a first being used for actual religious stuff I presumed.

Myne began pulling me through the crowd who were eyeing me with curiosity. I guess I couldn't blame them. If someone "fell out of the sky" and was up and walking soon after, I would be very intrigued too. She took me to the main street which had a lot more breathing room, enough to finally pull my boots on. It hosted a variety of stores and houses. The smell of freshly baked bread was especially pleasing to smell. "Well, we don't have a lot here. I'm guess that gives me more time to explain some stuff." Myne let go of my hand and spread her arms wide. "Welcome to Underworld. At least the Human Empire portion of it."

"Underworld?" I looked around. I couldn't see any hellfire or brimstone. "So have I actually died then?"

Myne giggled. "No silly. I'm pretty sure everyone else was born here. You might be an Integrity Knight that just didn't summon properly or somehow came here from another time."

"Integrity Knight huh?" I didn't recognise the name. If that was the purpose of my arrival in this world, I think I would at least remember that. "So, hang on a second. What was that window that Sister Fornell opened? That would be in a world that isn't real." I was so confused. I knew that this couldn't be real due to floating status windows. But this world seemed real.

Myne looked confused. "Well, you're real. I'm real. This world is as real as it can be." Her reasoning made sense. "That was the Stacia window. It can tell you your total Life and what level of Object Control Authority and System Control Authority. But you only need to worry about those if you plan on becoming a swordsman or a member of the Axiom Church."

"Swords…man…?" I looked down at my hand. For a moment, I could imagine a sword inside my palm. In fact, I could see the sword clearly. A silver blade with a golden handle, a strange design on the cross guard. "There are swords here?"

"Yep. In fact, we hold a duelling tournament every year. The winner gets to challenge the head of the town's guard and if they win, they're rewarded with a sword." Myne spread her arms wide and twirled as we reached the end of the street, which was signified by a drawbridge over a moat, leading out of town. "So, I'm guessing that you want to participate?"

"The only thing I can remember other than my last fight is that a sword is my weapon. If I'm ever going to find my purpose in this world, a sword will take me there. That I'm certain of."

Myne shrugged. "Are you sure you can even swing a sword?"

"I wouldn't bother asking him Myne. He's as thin as a stick."

A guard walked over, clad in leather armour. He looked middle aged, a stubby beard and slicked back hair. He wore a smug face, but his eyes were sharp. I could tell he was an experienced warrior.

"Kids these days always think they can just pick up a sword and swing it to win a fight." The guard shook his head. "There's a lot more to it than that kid."

For the first time since waking up, I smiled. "Oh really? Maybe you would be so kind to teach me?"

Myne let out a groan. "If Sister Fornell finds out you've been picking fights so quickly, she won't be happy."

"I'm not picking a fight. Think of it as training for the duelling tournament." I shrugged.

The guard laughed. "That's the spirit kid! I like you already." His expression softened a little before gesturing to follow. I looked at Myne who looked defeated, putting her hands up in surrender. I followed the guard down the street.

As we walked, I retraced the steps that Sister Fornell had performed to open my Stacia window, drawing the S with my forefinger and middle finger. The same purple window appeared. My Object Control Authority was at 32, while my System Control Authority was sat at 2. I swiped the window away, deciding to ask Myne about specifics later. Right now I had to focus on the fight in front of me.

The guard had led me to a barracks. He explained to another guard what was going on before we went into the yard. Myne leaned against the fence, ready to watch.

I was passed a wooden sword and I felt it in my hand. It was incredibly light. My instinct seemed to be right. The sword felt right in my hand, like it was part of me. I swung it a few times, finding myself more reinsured.

"You ready kid?" The guard got into a stance. He stood body facing forwards, one foot in front of the other, with the sword ready in front of him. His grip was sloppy despite holding the handle with two hands. One strike and I could knock it out of his hands. Or maybe that was what he was trying to get me to do. Even so…

I placed my right foot in front of my body, left foot behind and angled to the side. My sword was gripped firmly, my wrist lax so the sword was pointed at my opponent. The guard raised an eyebrow.

"Impressive. You'd be amazed how many other brats have no idea how to properly stand." He raised his sword over his head.

His sides were open for a swing if I dodged to the same side I swung at. However, a smile on his face told me that he was expecting that. I decided to wait for him to make the move.

The guard jumped forwards, bringing his sword down on my head. "Checkmate…" I muttered under my breath as I moved my sword to intercept, placing my other hand on the blade so the power behind his strike wouldn't cause my sword to be knocked away. As the two swords clashed, his smile vanished as he realised his mistake. I fell backwards, planting my foot on his chest. I didn't need to do anything else, just letting momentum and gravity take over. The force of his strike made him come down with me. I used my feet to throw him over my head, sending him tumbling in the dirt.

The guard gasped in pain as I kicked to get myself back on my feet. I twirled the sword in my hand before sheathing it, or at least attempting to, all in one smooth motion. I held the wooden sword on my waist and smiled as I turned to look at the guard. "Thanks for the training."

I heard some murmurs from the other guards. The guard I had been fighting pushed himself into a sitting position. "Heh…not bad kid…"

I bowed before sticking the wooden sword in the hay. Myne's eyes were wide, her jaw open in surprise. "Where did you learn that?"

Unfortunately, my answer was as expected. "I don't know."

That evening

The sky was a deep red that evening. I lifted the bucket out of the well, emptying it into the urn. The water was at an acceptable level now, so I heaved it onto my shoulder and carried it towards the kitchen. The Sister inside thanked me and dismissed me.

I went outside and sat on the stone wall, staring up at the sky. Something went across the sky but I didn't pay it any attention.

_This world is too realistic to be a virtual world, but relies on systems too strange to be real. Even without my memories, I could tell that something's wrong. I need to find out why I'm here and what my goal should be. Myne mentioned something about an Integrity Knight. It's a good start, maybe I could find out how to meet one._

I let out a sigh, knowing that the journey was going to be long. A chill was now in the wind, causing my shoulders to shake.

My first goal was getting a sword I could rely on. And that meant fighting in the duelling tournament and winning every fight, even against the head of the town's guard.

I chuckled to myself. "If he's anything like his subordinate, then this will be all too easy."

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**Thanks for reading. And thank you to people who have already followed and favourited. I think you're crazy for doing so but it's appreciated all the same :)**

**A little backstory. Light is a survivor of another death game called The Land Beyond, and ended up freeing everyone. He has only one memory which is his lowest point. He will begin to remember other parts of his past, but you'll find out what those are when we get to them.**

**Unfortunately, this story isn't going to be updated as regularly as my Fatal Bullet Rewrite. This was just an idea that bloomed into a story. The crossover was going to happen anyway, but I didn't have a concrete idea until Season 3 of SAO finished. I will try to write a chapter every month, but don't hold your breath. As soon as the FB Rewrite is done, I'll be focusing on finishing this ASAP.**

**Reviews are appreciated. Critisim is preferred to blind love or hate. Thank you all again for checking this out.**

**Until next time, Stay Cool**


	3. 2: Adjusting to a new world

**Another chapter of this story completed. It's a bit shorter than I like, but this chapter was already kind of dragging. Small time-skips FTW!**

**Anyway, enjoy. **

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Chapter 2

Adjusting to a New World

Seeming as I had no idea what my past held, I decided to use what I knew to try and help out. I seemed to have a large amount of strength in my body despite appearances. So in the mornings I would start to move water from the town well to the church before morning prayer. I wasn't particularly religious, but it was a requirement of living at the church. During the day, I would run small errands for the church, such as delivering supplies to various residents. During the evening, I would get some time to myself.

This was the part of the day that I enjoyed the most. Even though I had a purpose during the day, the evening was when I would tap into the one piece of my past that I was sure about. The guard that I fought, whose name was Killian, gave me a practise sword. I would spend my evenings next to a lake which was just outside the town, swinging the blade. It didn't matter how I swung it. It just…it felt great.

Afterwards, I would return to the church for evening prayer before eating with Myne, the only person who I knew from the church. We would recount the day (mostly her as my day was the same everyday) before turning in for the night.

One time, I asked her about Integrity Knights. She admitted she didn't know a lot, but they acted in service of the Axiom Church, the governing body of Underworld.

It wasn't the most exciting schedule, but it was helping me adjust to this world. And it was biding time until this tournament that was coming. At this point it was only two days away.

Sweat dripped from my forehead as I swung the sword again, the only resistance I felt was the wind, which was rather strong today. I did one final upwards strike before sheathing the blade on my belt. A water skin sat on the grass next to me. I picked it up and drank deep.

Footsteps came from behind me. I turned to see Killian and Myne. I replaced the stopper on the water skin and smiled at them. "Shouldn't you be getting ready for evening prayer Myne?"

"Killian wanted to talk, so I showed him where you practise." Myne bowed. "I'll see you at dinner Light." She walked away at a brisk pace, her nun outfit blowing in the wind. I waved goodbye to her and turned to Killian.

"I see you're not slacking." He chuckled, looking at the sword hanging from my belt. "I'm supposed to deliver the tickets that allow you to enter the tournament." He reached into a pouch that was slung over his shoulder. "There's 31 other people taking part. It's nice that we don't have an awkward number for once." He passed me the small wooden tag.

"Thanks." I slipped it into my pants pocket.

Killian closed the pouch and sighed. "Myne told me that you were asking about Integrity Knights."

I unsheathed my sword and began swinging again. "She couldn't tell me much."

"Yeah. I've only seen one once, when a band of goblins had managed to infiltrate the Human Empire." He crossed his arms, watching my swing. "He was clad in purple armour with a silver blade that shot beams of light. The goblins never stood a chance." I looked at him, an eyebrow raised in doubt. "Anyway, they work for Administrator."

The word Administrator was spoken in a language I knew well. Whoever this person was, they were obviously extremely powerful in this world.

I nodded, taking in the information. "So how do I become one?"

He shrugged. "All I know is that Centoria has some sort of tournament. If you win, you become an Integrity Knight." He pointed into the distance. I squinted my eyes to make out a large white spire. I was surprised that I hadn't noticed it before, seeming as it looked like it could be seen from anywhere. However, a large group of clouds were surrounding the top of it, making it difficult to see past a certain point. "Yeah, it's always been hard to see the top." Killian smiled, kicking a small rock away.

"Thanks." I went back to swinging away. I heard a weapon being unsheathed behind me. A smile creeped onto my face before I spun around and blocked his attack. "Nice try."

Killian sighed. "You're still too-" I slammed my hand into the centre of his chest, kicking the back of his leg and sending him flying backwards.

"And you're still talking too much." I offered him a hand to let him back up. He would regularly try to sneak attack me since our duel. An act that I always punished him with sending him flying into the nearest wall. It was all in good fun though. I lifted Killian back to his feet.

The sun was beginning to set, giving me the signal that it was time for evening prayer. I thanked Killian again before heading towards the church.

I walked through the large oak door and went straight to the pew furthest away from the statue of Stacia. Apparently Stacia was the goddess of creation. Until I saw her, I couldn't believe that such a powerful being existed. Even this Administrator, I suspect she isn't even too much more powerful than the average person in this world.

Sister Fornell soon came into the main chapel. I clasped my hands in front of me in prayer and begun the long wait until dinner.

"So you're going to be going to Centoria?" Myne stuck her spoon in her mouth, looking disappointed. "No fair. I always wanted to go there."

"What's stopping you?" I stabbed the piece of beef with my fork. The meat was overcooked and required extensive chewing, but since Myne was the cook today, I forced myself to eat it. I used the time she talked to eat.

"I want to, but until I complete my Calling as a Sister, I can't." Myne sighed. "As soon as I'm done though, I get to go to Centoria for a few weeks to celebrate."

A Calling, as I understood it, was a person's job that they were required to do by the Axiom Church. It often amazed me how dedicated people were to the Church. I swallowed the beef and shrugged. "I'm hoping that my answers will be there."

"To your past?"

I nodded, taking a moment before eating the next piece of beef. "I'm just want to know why I'm here. Everyone else I've spoken to seems to have a reason to exist."

"Maybe you don't need a reason to exist." Myne shrugged. "All that matters is that you do."

I considered it for a moment whilst chewing. Maybe that was true, but I there had to be something in this world I could do. "Well, the duelling tournament is in two days. I'll probably start making my way to Centoria the day after."

"You need to let Sister Fornell know." Myne pointed out. Her expression turned to annoyed as she stuck her spoon in her mouth again. "Phooey. That means I would've lost a friend."

I was confused for a second. "Just because I'm going away doesn't mean you've…lost me…" For some reason, those words seemed to drive a dagger into my heart. I shook it off. "When you come to Centoria, I'll be able to see you again."

Myne nodded. "Yep." She took a moment, hesitating before carrying on. "Is it alright if I can speak to you before you leave?"

"Of course."

"I won't be at dinner tomorrow as we're needed to help set up, so I probably won't see you until the duelling tournament." Myne picked up her tray and stood up. "Good luck."

"Thanks." I gave her a wave goodbye, waiting until she was gone before spitting out the final piece of beef. "Ugh, overcooked." I gave a silent apology to Myne before taking the tray to the clean up area. I scraped the leftovers into the box provided and washed the plate up using a basin of water, stacking it with the rest of the dishes.

I still have a while until I was required to be in bed, so I decided to wander the town for a bit. The air was filled with the sounds of owls and crickets. Many of the torches had been lit, lighting the air with a warm glow.

I walked at a slow pace down the main street. I saw an old man in armour standing there. He turned upon hearing my footsteps and chuckled, raising a hand to scratch his thick facial hair. I stopped next to him, realising he had some words for me. Judging by his attire, he was also a town guard, but of a much higher rank than Killian. His armour was made from iron, seeming as it was a much duller colour of grey than steel. His grey hair was combed backwards out of his face.

He glanced at me, hands behind his back in a noble pose. Everything about him was professional and showed his age. "Tell me son, what do you see when you look at me?"

I was confused by the question, but nonetheless obliged him. "An old man who, despite his age, seems confident in his ability."

The old man nodded. "That I am. And in you, I can see a seasoned swordsman despite how young you are."

I shrugged, feeling the cold night air beginning to take over the day's warm breeze. "I wish I could tell you if you were right or not. I don't know."

"You can tell a lot about a person by their posture." He turned to look straight at me. "Show me your stance son."

I grabbed the practise sword from my side and did so. My right foot in front of my left, sword in the same direction as my right foot, eyes forward. The old man nodded. He then walked towards me, taking the practise sword from my hands, putting a hand up to tell me to wait. He then unsheathed his own blade.

His sword was a double-edged blade. The entire sword was a deep purple, and it seemed to be made of some sort of glass or crystal. The cross guard was made of three curled pieces on each side, almost resembling a flower. It felt heavier than any other sword I had used so far, though it didn't have much competition. Still, the heavy blade felt good.

Almost without thinking, I gave it a swing, feeling the blade's weight take control halfway through the swung. I stopped it before it hit the ground. I turned back to the old man who looked pleased. "I hope you don't disappoint during the tournament." He exchanged his sword for my practise sword, sheathing his in a simple leather sheath.

"Thank you. I hope I won't either." I sheathed my sword on my belt. "I'm guessing that blade is the one that's rewarded to the winner?"

He nodded. "Good luck son. I'll be waiting to cross swords with you."

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**The tournament isn't too far away now. The reward is a Divine Object, made from a Nightshade flower crystallised in obsidian, found deep in the Dark Territory. How did it find its way to the Human Empire and becomes the thing that Light needs to begin his adventure? Well, stay tuned dear reader.**

**I have made a design for the Night's Shadow Blade. I tried to describe it as best as possible. It has no relation to Kirito's Night Sky Sword. I will reveal its Memory Release further down the line. First, Light must claim the blade.**

**Hopefully Chapter 3 won't take as long, but again, this isn't my main priority. At least until Fatal Bullet Rewrite is complete. Then I have a special project I want to upload that has been years in the making. I hope you'll look forward to it. I'm mentioning it here because it relates directly to this series, but I will mention it in my profile and FBR once I'm done with the next chapter of that.**

**Thank you for reading. Reviews are always appreciated. Until next time, stay cool**


	4. 3: Beginnings of a Swordsman

**Hello again. Welcome back to Alicization Nightshade. I've been reading Volume 16 of SAO and have been hit with a lot of motivation to write about Alicization. Honestly, I love the Human Empire and War of the Underworld arcs too much.**

**Anyway, enjoy. See you at the bottom.**

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Chapter 3

The Beginning of a Swordsman

To be honest, next to nothing happened out of the ordinary the day before the tournament. Some contestants arrived in the afternoon, heading straight to the inn and beginning to boast about how no one in their village had bested them. Several were nobles it seemed. Either way, it didn't interfere with my schedule much.

The morning of the Vetal Duelling Tourney (which was the full name of the tournament), excitement was buzzing in the air. I had no idea how much this meant to everyone until I found out it meant a day off their Calling to watch the tournament. I suppose a day off work would make anyone happy.

I begun to head over to the area that had been set up for duelling. It was in a field just outside of the town, the opposite side of where I practised. A large bit of field had been fenced off, leaving plenty of space for people to stand around the edge. Already, quite the crowd had gathered.

Myne begun approaching me. I changed my course to head over to her. She was stand with her hands behind her back. "Hey, you need to head into the guard barracks."

"Thanks." I looked back at the town and sighed. _I just walked all the way down here._

"Oh, wait a second." She revealed what was behind her back. It was a short sword with a thick blade. "I wasn't exactly being truthful when I said I needed to prepare for the tournament. I know you'll probably get a better sword after this, but I thought it might be better than the one you've currently got."

I felt the sword, balancing it on my finger. "It's perfect." I couldn't stop the grin on my face from showing. "Thank you Myne. I mean it."

She blushed, waving it off. "It was nothing. Just…promise me we'll see each other after you head to Centoria."

"Of course." I sheathed the blade on my side. "I won't ever forget you."

"I'll be over there." She pointed to a spot next to the entrance. She began walking over.

I could barely hear her. Everything became fuzzy. My head felt like it was going to explode but I couldn't move to grab it.

I was in a long hallway. A tall hooded figure holding a scythe towered over two people. I approached them. Everything was frozen, but I could hear echoes of a conversation.

"_Leon? You're joking, aren't you?" _The first figure cradled the body of a second. I couldn't see the first figure fully, but the second was crystal clear. He was tall, black hair covering one eye. He was wearing silver armour, one arm covered by an enormous shield that was snapped in half.

_I know this person…_

"_Light…don't leave me…please…"_

"_I'm right here. I won't…I won't ever leave you. I won't ever forget you…"_

"_His brainwaves are increasing in regularity. Maybe it's succeeding. Plug Kirito in."_

"Hello?" A hand waved in front of my face, drawing me back to reality. I looked at the owner and saw Killian. "Are you crying?"

I lifted my hand to my cheek to indeed find them wet. I rubbed my eyes and forced a smile. "I'm fine. I need to get going. See you in a bit." I gave Killian a wave before heading up the hill back to town.

_What the hell was that? How did I know that guy lying on the ground? And who is Kirito?_

I shook these thoughts out of my head. I had to focus on the task ahead. I would have to remember that name. It might hold some answers should the Administrator hold none. Something scared me about that name though, carrying a weight that I couldn't describe. I didn't recognise it, but still…

It took a minute to get to the barracks. There were several people there, varying from tall and muscular, to me. Already I was receiving several sneers and scoffs, very few taking me seriously. The only two were people I knew lived in Vetal.

One was a boy around my age with short black hair that was combed back. I saw him mainly around the stalls, staring at the food. The other was a girl with shoulder length white hair, that wasn't combed at all, looking like she had just gotten out of bed. She was the blacksmith's daughter if I remembered correctly. Both of them were in the corner talking to each other, a sword dangling from their waist.

I leaned against the fence and waited for some sort of announcement. Eventually, the captain of the guard came out, his purple blade hanging from his side. He looked at everyone and nodded. "A typical set of warriors it seems. Let's see…fourteen, fifteen…sixteen. Perfect." He slammed his blade in the ground, drawing the attention of the few that were still talking amongst themselves. "Welcome to the Vetal Duelling Tournament. It is a rather simple procedure. You shall write your name on a sheet of paper. We shall draw four names, and those will fight until one is left standing, and then the remaining few will take each other on in one-on-one duels. The duels will use stop short rules. You will not cause permanent harm to anyone." He glanced at the girl who laughed nervously. "The top four will be granted permission to apply to the Swordcraft Academy in Centoria. However, the last contestant will be given the opportunity to duel me for this blade."

One of the more muscular men chuckled. "I'm surprised no one has taken it from you already old man."

I couldn't help but smile at that observation. True, the captain was old and probably didn't have the same reaction speed as many of the people here, but there had to be a reason why he hadn't given up the blade.

A wad of paper and a quill was handed around. I wrote my name down on one of the pieces and passed the rest of the paper on. I placed it inside the helmet that was left on a table. As I headed back I could hear one of the contestant muttering. "Kid should just go back to shovelling pig shit."

I looked at him and saw who he was looking at. The boy who was at the market a lot. I smirked. "Well, I'm sure you'll love getting acquainted with it."

The man growled as he turned his attention to me. "What did you just say?"

"I'm just saying that when you get knocked down, I'm sure there's going to be a nice pile of crap waiting." I shrugged. "Karma is usually like that."

"Sorry, what am I like?"

I looked to see the boy looking confused. It took a second for me to realise my mistake. _Oh, his name must be Karma._ "Just saying how you could probably take this guy."

"Your blessing means nothing to me." Karma glared at me.

_Man. You try to lift someone up…_

The captain took four names from the helmet. "Kimiko, Lent, Eugene and Karma. If you would all follow me down to the duelling area, we can begin."

Upon stepping outside, I could see that the crowd had gotten even bigger. I couldn't help but smile at the reaction. Obviously this was an event everyone looked forward to. Most of the competitors joined the crowd. I headed slightly away from the crowd.

Since this was a new blade, I had to adjust to it quickly. Though to be honest, this blade wasn't much heavier than the practise blade despite being made of a much denser material. I opened the Stacia window of the sword. It had an Object Authority of 15, far below my own. I gave it a swing, feeling much more weight behind my swing. I smiled. This weight made the blade feel like the first real sword I had used.

I swung it a few more times to make sure I had it completely under my control. I sheathed the blade on my side as a huge roar came from the crowd. "They really get fired up about this." I muttered to myself. I headed back around to the fight to see only the girl still standing. The rest of the competitors were on the ground. I felt a mix of surprise and frustration. Surprise that she had ended it so quickly and frustration that I had missed it.

She gave her opponents a bow before walking away. The captain of the guard stepped forward and rubbed his nose. "Well, I'm now a little worried." The crowd laughed. "Kimiko will be progressing to the next round." He took the helmet and pulled out four more pieces of paper. "Kazuma, Light, Dolt and Ren."

I moved through the crowd to be in the centre. Everyone else was already waiting in the ring. The captain directed us all to different corners. I drew my blade and got into a stance. This would be the second time I had actually had a fight with someone else, and the first time I had fought multiple people.

_Or was it…?_

A bell sounded and the person to my immediate right charged me. I guess he thought I was going to be an easy target. As a result, he left his front wide open and he could be easily be knocked off balance. Even so, I thought I'd indulge him for a bit. I swung at me, hard. I dodged backwards. He had obviously relied on being able to hit, overswinging and stumbling forwards, straight into my foot. I kicked him onto his back and pointed my sword down at him, knocking him out of the fight.

The other two were duelling, their swords clashing together. I took the opportunity to observe their fighting styles. One was very aggressive, swinging with huge power behind their swings with no sense of style. However, the speed meant he left very little opportunity for being on the receiving end of a strike. The other was dodging the strikes, most likely due to the hugely telegraphed attacks. All it would take is one mistake from either one and it would be over.

It didn't take long. The person dodging jumped a little bit too far, their foot stepping on the side of a rock. I could hear the snap of his ankle as the other blade stopped just short of his neck, moving away quickly to let him fall.

Me and the aggressive guy let him get carried off before continuing. With my short sword, I could probably hold back an attack. His blade was a longsword, so he had the range advantage. I smiled as I took up a stance, thinking of a strategy.

My opponent yelled as they swung towards me. It was a swing from left to right. Perfect. I ducked down and tackled them to the ground. I rolled to my feet and pointed my blade at him.

With that, I had won the first match.

I sat away from the crowd, wiping my sword with a small cloth. I could hear the sounds of blades clashing and the crowd cheering. I noticed Karma walking away, looking pissed. Not that I could blame him. If I got knocked out in the first round, I would be pissed too. Maybe my accidental encouragement didn't help either. I thought about going after him for a second, but then again, I didn't want to make him feel worse.

I sighed to myself before sheathing my blade. The next round, I would be facing a fellow winner of the previous round. Either way, I had made it into the Swordscraft Academy. Either way, it would get me to Centoria, which is where I needed to be for this tournament to become an Integrity Knight. Maybe I should ask someone about it next time I had the opportunity.

A cheer came from the crowd, meaning that the final duel had concluded. I headed back over and waited on the edge of the arena. The sun was at the highest point in the sky, so several people were heading back to the village for a water refill. I noticed Kimiko was talking to the captain over on the other side and started heading over. If anyone knew what that tournament was, it was going to be him.

"Come on, let me fight him next." Kimiko was looking disappointed.

"I can't change the rules. It's against the Taboo Index. Surely even you know that." The captain sighed. "If you really want to fight him next, maybe you should start praying to Stacia." He turned to see me. "Ah, speak of the devil."

I gave him a quick bow. "Sorry, I was hoping to ask you about some stuff. My friends seemed to skip out on some details." The captain nodded, waiting for me to continue. "I want to become an Integrity Knight. I believe it might hold some answers to my memory loss. I know there's a tournament in Centoria that allows you to become one but I'm unsure of what journey I should take to get there."

Kimiko snorted, something I chose to ignore. The captain smiled. "You're already on your way there son. The Swordcraft Academy will hold the tournament. I thought that was the whole reason you were joining this in the first place."

"To be honest, I just wanted the sword." I shrugged.

"Well, soon you'll have the chance to prove yourself worthy of the blade." The captain nodded, turning to see how much of the crowd had returned. "Well, only two more fights to go. Good luck to the both of you." He looked behind to Kimiko who sighed.

I was left standing there, facing Kimiko. I had no idea if I should just walk away or talk. She was standing there like she was expecting something. "Um…good luck in the next round."

She smiled, shaking her head. "Honestly, did falling out of the sky make that much of a dent in your brain? I'm going to be fighting you soon. Why would you wish me luck?"

I rolled my eyes. "Well, obviously I'll be going for that sword. But it's called manners."

"You won't be wanting to be polite when I wipe the floor with you." Kimiko walked away. Honestly, she was kind of irritating. Maybe this was why Karma was so pissed off back in the barracks, having to put up with that.

"The next round will be beginning shortly. Contestants, gather around in the centre. Everyone else, gather around the edge."

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**To be honest, the conversation at the end with the captain was kind of me patching up a detail that I had forgot to mention in the last chapter. I apologise if it seems forced in. That's completely my fault.**

**But the fight was very short, something that will be rectified in the next 2 chapters. I always enjoy writing long fights, and one in particular is going to take up a lot of the chapter. Kimiko is a character whose name you might recognise. Don't worry, she won't remain a brat forever. Character development is important. It's no fun for a character to be the same at the start and the end.**

**Even so, I hope you enjoyed. Light's journey is only just beginning...or has it begun long ago and we're just tuning in partway through? Who is Leon? Find out...soon. Let's go with that. Criticism is always appreciated. Until next time, Stay Cool.**


	5. 4: Start of a Journey

**Well, this took less time than I thought. Mainly because I thought I would only have two sword fights this chapter. But even that didn't satisfy my usual word count. Anyway, enjoy. See you at the bottom.**

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Chapter 4

Start of a Journey

I had to admit, I was a little worried about this match.

My opponent was a rather muscular guy called Levi. On his back was a greatsword that was at least three times the length of my blade. To be honest, I now envied Kimiko, who had a much easier match compared to mine.

"You ready pipsqueak?" Levi unsheathed his sword and rested it on his shoulder. I just shrugged and drew my blade.

With that, the match started.

Levi lifted his blade over his head with both hands. His blade suddenly began to glow red, pulsing with energy. I frowned. This was not a technique that I was familiar with, even with my strange knowledge of swordplay. I knew that a vertical strike could be blocked using a horizontal parry, but with the power behind the strike, it might not work.

_Well then. Dodging._

The bell sounded and I ran forwards. Levi brought his sword down in a perfect vertical slash, leaving a red trail that made it difficult to see the back edge of the blade. As I got into range of the strike, I dived towards his side, out of reach of his skill and positioning myself in his blind spot. I rolled to my feet and went to strike Levi's side. To my surprise, he turned in time to block my strike.

"You've got a lot of speed for a two-handed sword user." I muttered, just loud enough for him to hear.

"My blade is made from a lightweight metal." He grinned. "I'm surprised someone would be so crazy to charge straight into a Sacred Art."

Due to my experience with the two swords I've had, I knew that the Object Authority directly translated to the weight of the sword, which meant this person's sword was very low. But being able to swing a sword that large so quickly…it was going to prove troublesome. And this Sacred Art he had performed. I had no idea they existed.

I swallowed a lump in my throat before breaking the connection our swords had and swung again. Levi swung in the opposite direction, and the two blades slammed against each other and the edges slid against each other. Sparks began flying, ending as the tip of my blade fell off his. I ducked under the remainder of his blade and had a clean shot at his leg. A shadow fell over my head, seeing his sword coming down on my head.

"Sh-" I dived away from him and the sword. My opponent was accounting for everything I could throw at him. I frowned, glancing at his confident stance. I could tell he knew my doubts.

_I can't afford to lose here. I don't care how strong you are._

I saw him lifting up his sword again. This time, I let my body do a motion. I went low, right leg bent behind my left leg which was outstretched before me. I grasped the handle of my sword with both hands, the edge parallel to the ground and the tip pointing at my foe. The sword began to glow golden.

Once again, I had no clue where I knew this technique came from, but I knew it was something I had performed hundreds of times beforehand. Every second that went by, power seemed to build up in the sword. I sucked in air before unleashing.

The sword left a golden trail behind it as I shot forwards. Levi's eyes widened in shock as I shot at him at tremendous speed. I could feel the wind pushing against me, trying to slow me down, but I refused to. As I got within a couple of inches, I stopped, my blade freezing just short of Levi's stomach.

The crowd erupted in cheers. I removed the sword, it returning to a silver metal. I sheathed it on my side and stood up straight. Levi was still in a state of shock as I patted him on the shoulder. "Good fight."

"What the hell was that?" Levi's confidence was gone.

I shook my head, a sad smile on my lips. "I don't know."

Later

I looked at my sword's Stacia window and frowned. Its durability was low. Extremely low. I sighed, knowing I wouldn't be able to use it in the final fight. Luckily, I had access to the training sword still. I had no idea how effective it would be against Kimiko, who I knew would win her match. I still hadn't seen her fight yet.

I sheathed my sword on my waist and headed towards the crowd in time to see Kimiko win. Her blade had a green tint to it, the tip touching her opponent's breastplate. She removed it, sheathing it before bowing and retreating. The captain moved into the arena, muttering to Kimiko who just shook her head and whispered back. Nodding, the captain held up two pieces of paper. "Well then, here we are. The final battle between two competitors." I began to push my way carefully through the crowd and made my way to the centre. Kimiko hadn't bothered sheathing her sword.

_Normally, anyone would want to take a break after a fight, not matter how easy it was. How confident is she in her ability?_ I made my way to the opposite side, drawing my practise sword ready.

Kimiko was wearing little armour, having a plain outfit. She had a red long sleeved shirt with a black vest, light brown trousers and long black boots. All of it said she was a light fighter, having little to weight her down. I knew nothing of her fighting style, only that she really wanted to fight me for some reason. She was holding a stance similar to mine. Her sword was also a practise blade, although I could see her normal sword on her waist. She looked…worried. I got into my stance and shook away any questions I had. I needed to focus on this battle.

I sucked in one final breath before the bell sounded once again. "Time to end this."

I jumped forwards, bringing my sword over my head before swinging it down at Kimiko. She rolled her eyes before bringing her sword up to block. The dull sound of wood clacking against itself came from our blades, and not a single spark flew. I dragged my sword across hers. Due to her positioning, her sword went upwards. I brought mine around to strike her side.

She perfectly copied my motion, bringing her sword around in a perfect half circle to meet mine. I was glad that I was a step away, otherwise her sword would be in my leg. Obviously realising this, she stepped forwards, but I took two steps left and got some distance. We were back to square one.

She flashed a smirk at me before charging forwards, swinging three times, each was met with a block from my sword. We locked on a fourth strike, swords forming a cross.

"You seem to know quite a bit of my style." Kimiko muttered, just loud enough for the words to be mine alone to hear. "You may have everyone else fooled, but not me. It took me years to master this style."

"Maybe you'd be interested in telling me more about it." I moved my right foot back and threw it forwards, letting go of my sword as I flipped myself over backwards. Kimiko moved forwards slightly, my foot connecting with her wrist. Her sword was knocked up and backwards, spinning away from her. I grabbed my sword and swung ready for victory.

Another blade cut straight through mine.

I rolled away from the sudden danger to see Kimiko holding her normal sword. Her eyes were narrow but a sly smile was visible on her face. I took a deep breath before drawing my metal blade too, storing the wooden sword in my belt. _You better not die on me._

I jumped forwards and swung in an upwards arc from right to left, before bringing my sword downwards in a perfect vertical slice. Kimiko backed away from both, sending her to the edge of the crowd. I immediately saw what she was doing. If she grasped her second sword, that would be another layer of defence she had.

As she rolled forwards, I leaned back, stretching my left leg forwards, blade grasped in both hands and parallel to the ground. I shot forwards, gold surrounding my sword as I brought my sword downwards. Kimiko picked up her sword and lifted her head, only to feel cold steel on her neck.

I let out a sigh of relief, suddenly beginning to pant. All of the fatigue caught up at once. I removed my sword as the blade snapped in half.

I stared at the metal that now lay on the ground. I looked between it and the handle that rested in my hand. Despite the cheers, I could feel a sense of dread growing inside me. My first gift from a friend, and it lay broken on the ground. I picked it up attempting to fit it back together, but the blade wasn't having it. With no other choice, I slipped both into the sheath. I just hoped Myne didn't see it.

"You know, I've never seen that Sacred Art before."

I looked at Kimiko. She was must be referring to the golden glow. I shrugged, as it was the most honest thing I could respond with. I walked away from her, still sat on the floor. I looked at the crowd and saw Killian giving me a nod. I couldn't see Myne though.

The captain approached me and patted me on the shoulder. "Good job lad. Come to the main gate at sundown and we'll talk."

"We're not going to be fighting here?" I frowned, confused.

"No. If everyone witnessed our battle, then I wouldn't be able to keep a few tricks up my sleeve." The captain chuckled. Made sense. If he's old, it wouldn't make sense that he could win in a head on battle.

Later that day

That evening, I walked down the main street. I still had half an hour to spare, but I wanted to get away from the crowds. It's not that I regret winning, I just don't like crowds of people surrounding me. I still haven't been able to talk to Myne since this morning when she gave me the sword that still lay broken.

I passed the blacksmith where Kimiko was stood outside, moving a pile of wood outside to a storage shed. She saw me and sighed. "Oi, you, inside."

"I'm kind of in a hurry."

"Yeah, and the quicker you get inside, the sooner you can be on your way." I hesitated, but obviously patience wasn't one of Kimiko's strong suits, pinching my sleeve and dragging me inside the blacksmith.

The workshop wasn't too big, but it made use of the space. A burning forge sat in the corner, glowing embers lighting up the room. Next to the forge was a bucket of water and an anvil, a hammer resting on top of the latter. On the other side of the forge was a rack full of various weapons, from standard one-handed swords to axes and spears. A desk with a bunch of blueprints and small pieces of metal on top of it sat in an adjacent corner to the forge.

Kimiko grabbed a black apron from a hook by the door and put it on, slipping her hands into some thick gloves. "Pass me your sword."

"Huh?"

"Are you deaf as well as forgetful?"

I grabbed the sheath from my belt before sliding out the broken handle and blade. Kimiko proceeded to put the blade and some extra metal inside a crucible and put it in the forge. "What exactly are you doing?" I frowned.

"What does it look like? I'm repairing your sword." Kimiko grabbed her hammer and pounded at the pieces of metal still inside the hilt. "After all, I'm the reason it broke…and I wouldn't want you to lose this coming battle, otherwise ours would've been worthless."

I smiled. "You can be nice then."

"I'm always nice to people who are worth being nice to." The final bit of lingering metal shattered as the crucible began to glow red. Kimiko grabbed a mould and placed it upright. She lifted the crucible and poured the liquid metal into the mould. She took a moment to breathe and placed her hand on it. "System call: Generate Cryogenic Element. Form Element, Liquid Shape." A white light appeared by her finger, which she pressed against the mould. The entire thing froze solid.

"Is that magic?" I had to blink several times to make sure I hadn't missed anything.

Kimiko laughed. "No, it's a Sacred Art. Like that sword technique you were using. Only these are more supportive in nature." She picked up the mould and placed it on the anvil. She opened the mould and within it sat a perfect blade.

It didn't take long to slot into the hilt and the blade was returned to me. I smiled, a warmth filling my heart. "Thank you Kimiko."

"You can thank me by teaching me that Sacred Art you used back in our fight." She took off her gloves and threw them into the corner. "But once we get to the Swordscraft Academy. I'm too tired right now."

I nodded. "Sure thing."

A few minutes later

I arrived at the gate to find the captain standing there. He turned to greet me with a gentle smile, I placed my hand on my sword ready.

"Don't draw your blade Light." He put up his hand. I could see in his eyes he was tired. He approached me with the purple blade in hand. He stopped a few feet away from me. "Hold out your hand."

I did so, positioning it palm facing up.

"Imagine a flower. It has thin petals, barely budding. The entire thing is encased in a deep purple glass, stem and all. Every around this flower is an inferno, but the flower remains untouched."

I frowned, confused, but I did as he asked, closing my eyes to give me the most amount of focus possible. A flower made from purple glass, engulfed by a flame that couldn't kill the delicate flower, no matter how intense the flame. It sat where the palm of my hand was.

"Now tell me. What is this flower?"

At first, I thought he was joking. All I could do is imagine this flower, not actually name it.

Then I realised. As the petals split away from each other and the flower bloomed, a sharp edge began growing from the core of the flower. The stem began to take shape as a hilt. I took a deep breath before speaking. "A sword."

I opened my eyes. The purple blade was in the ground, and the captain was gone. I looked around, confused. I could only see as a majestic display of light spiralling up towards the heavens, leaving this world behind.

I approached the sword and lifted it out of the ground. The blade was certainly the heaviest I had gripped so far, feeling like a proper sword with weight behind the swings. The dark purple glass flower became this blade, which had found its way to the captain, and then to me.

_System Call. Connect Armament…_

"So, it finally chose you."

I turned to see Killian standing by the gate, a sad smile on his face. "I thought we were supposed to fight for the sword?"

"No. He does this with everyone. It's his way of knowing that he can leave behind the sword to someone who can use it. I did it once, and I couldn't even lift the sword." Killian sighed. "It's good that he was able to pass it on. He's been slowly dying over the last few weeks."

I looked back up at the night sky, the light had completely disappeared. I lifted up the purple glass to the moon, casting a shadow onto the grass.

I think I'll called it the Night Shadow Blade.

* * *

**I loved designing the Night Shadow Blade. No, it isn't the Night Shadow Sword. After all, that'll be confusing with the Night Sky Sword. The flower that I decided would be the Core Memory was an Obsidian Nightshade. I can't wait to show off its Memory Release.**

**We'll be heading towards the Swordscraft Academy next chapter. There, I'll be introducing new characters, as well as mentioning some events that will be relating to the main Alicization story. After all, Kirito's journey will be starting soon. Just having Light in the world doesn't change that Kirito and Eugeo will meet, save Selka and use the Blue Rose Sword to cut down Gigas Cedar.**

**As always, thank you for reading. Criticism is always appreciated. Until next time, stay cool.**


	6. 5: A Friend

**I'm back with another chapter for Nightshade. I never thought I would enjoy writing the character that is being focused on this time. Enjoy.**

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Chapter 5

A Friend

Thunder suddenly woke me from my slumber. I sat up and frowned as rain poured through the branches of the tree which I was resting under. Despite the downpour around me, I was completely dry. If the wind changed direction, that may have changed.

I sighed as more thunder rumbled overhead. I wasn't going to get much more sleep. Even if I did, I would likely wake up with a dreadful cold. Sighing again, I decided to make the most of my time by drawing my new sword.

The blade twirled in my hand, completing a full rotation before firmly stopping in my palm. It was heavy, but that felt good. I moved my forefinger in the S shape to bring up the Stacia window. The sword sat at an Object Control Authority of 38, below my own of 41. Which meant that my theory was correct that anything below your Object Control was able to be used, but the closer it got, the heavier the blade. What amazed me was the Durability. It sat at 320826/391901. It almost felt unbreakable despite the entire thing seemingly made from glass. It also had a Unit ID of WLSS924.

Lightning struck a tree next to me, setting it ablaze. Thankfully, the rain would likely put it out before the blaze grew out of control. Even so, it told me that I shouldn't remain here much longer if I didn't want to get fried. I grabbed my travelling cloak which I had been using as a pillow, my bag of tools and food, and the belt which held my two sheaths.

I hated the fact my blades was always hanging from my side. Something about it filled me with dread. However, I didn't have any means to change that right now.

I stepped out into the rain, keeping my head down to stop any water from getting inside my cloak. According to the map that Killian had given me, there should be a village about an hour and a half away if I went at a brisk pace. Going there would be more productive than finding another spot to sleep. I began walking. The rain didn't let up as I did. The ground was becoming so saturated that my boots were sinking into it as I walked, which wasn't exactly helping me in my quest to get to the village as fast as possible.

A cry of anger came from my left a few minutes in. I looked to see a man standing outside a wagon. The wheel had fallen off and it didn't look like he was having much luck putting it back on. On top of that, the wagon was sinking and the horse drawing the carriage was getting impatient. I walked over and tapped him on the shoulder. "Need a hand?"

"Oh thank god. I've been trying to do this for the past ten minutes." The man pointed to the wagon. "Think you can lift this so I can secure the wheel?"

I nodded. I didn't have much strength, but it should be enough to hold the wagon up. I gripped underneath the side of the wagon and begun lifting. The wagon only raised an inch or two off the ground, but it was enough. The man begun to fix the wheel while I did my best to keep it lifted. Just as my arms begun to burn with exhaustion, he had finished.

"Thanks a lot. Hopefully that'll not happen again." He pushed his long hair out of his face, which happened to be a pale shade of purple. He was tall and thin, but had sharp eyes and a warm smile. On his belt was a sword and strangely enough, a whip. "Eldrie Woolsburg."

"Light."

"That's it? No second name?"

"I don't remember to be honest. I only have memories worth a few weeks."

Eldrie frowned. "It's not unheard of. But then what are you doing out here?"

"I plan to enter a tournament in Centoria. I believe that I was supposed to be an Integrity Knight, but I wasn't summoned properly."

Eldrie nodded. "Well, apparently there are only two ways to become one. Become one through battle or to be summoned by the Pontifex. Some don't believe the second one is likely." He jumped onto the wagon and offered a hand. "Well then Light, it appears our destination is one in the same. As thanks for helping me out, would you allow me to take you to the nearest village for something to eat?"

"Well, if you're offering." I took his hand and he pulled me up onto the wagon. The front seat was sheltered so I could take off my hood. Eldrie cracked the reins and the wagon remained stationary despite the horse pulling. I put my hood up again. "I'll push it out."

"Thanks." Eldrie sighed, his head in his palms.

The wagon was certainly moving faster than I ever could have on foot. Luckily, as soon as we got onto a main path, the wagon didn't risk sinking again. The rain was even starting to ease up, even though the thunder remained.

"So, do you fight with both sword and whip?" I decided to ask him about his fighting style, as I hadn't seen someone carrying around a whip in Vetal, let alone use one.

Eldrie nodded. "It helps manoeuvre your opponent into a position favourable to you, or make one of their limbs yours to control. I won a local duelling contest mostly thanks to it." He laughed suddenly. "There was this guy who tried to pay everyone to drop out, and I just took his leg out from under him in our fight. It was over in five seconds."

I smiled. "So why are you wanting to become an Integrity Knight?"

"Honestly, I just want my mother to be proud." I could instantly tell from his eyes that he really loved his mother. It made me wonder who my parents were, if I had any to begin with. "Even so, please don't go easy on me if we ever cross swords during the Four Empires Unity Tournament. Even if I lose, as long as I know I lost to a worthy swordsman."

I nodded. "Same to you."

"So what about your style of swordsmanship? It's not everyday you see someone wielding two swords. One looks far more impressive than the other." He was referring to the Night Shadow Blade.

"I have yet to use my purple sword. It was a reward for competing in my local duelling tournament. But this one…" I drew the short sword. "It was the first gift I received from a friend." I smiled sadly. I didn't get to say goodbye to Myne. I had wanted to apologise for breaking her gift to me, and show her that it was repaired.

Eldrie nodded and patted me on the shoulder. "I think you and I will get along just fine." As he said that, the village came into view.

I jumped off the wagon as he parked it in a stable and paid for the storage. I took the opportunity to look at the village. It was called Solvent. It was barely a quarter of the size of Vetal as I could see that there were only about ten buildings on the main street. Even so, it looked homely and had a warm atmosphere despite the rain. Even at this early hour, a lot of people were setting up stalls or opening shops.

Eldrie took me to a small building made of smooth stone and wooden framing. Inside was a small crowd split between several tables. We found a table and sat down on the wooden benches. "Go ahead and order. I'll pay for it."

I shook my head. "At least let me buy the drinks."

"Normally, I would refuse. But I get the sense you have a stubborn side when it comes to stuff like this." Eldrie chuckled to himself. "I've learned not to try and argue with someone who's stubborn."

I felt myself relax. Eldrie felt like someone I could trust. I grabbed some silver coins from a pouch on my belt, another parting gift from Killian. A waiter came over. Eldrie ordered something that sounded way too posh for me and a glass of red wine. I just ordered a pork rice bowl and a glass of orange juice. The waiter took our payment and walked back towards the counter.

"So, you're heading to the Swordscraft Academy?" Eldrie asked. I nodded. "Ah, well I'm going a different route but we'll ultimately end up in the same place. I'm becoming part of the Norlangarth Knighthood."

"Why are you in Wesdarath then?" Our drinks were placed on the table.

Eldrie grasped the stem with the tips of his fingers, slowly swirling the blood red liquid around the bottom of the wine glass. "My mother wished for me to run an errand to make sure I had enough funds while away. I love her, but she worries a little too much sometimes."

I nodded. The food arrived soon afterwards. It didn't take long for my stomach to start growling at the sight of the dish. I don't remember having a full meal while inside the Church back in Vetal, only whatever was supplied to us. Seeing a meal so full of colour and having a smell so full of flavour…it was something I never realised I wanted until I had it.

"So your sword, what exactly is it?" Eldrie asked.

"Honestly, I don't know. All I know is it used to be a flower that was made from the same material as the blade."

"You seem to not know a lot."

I couldn't argue with that. "I do know how to use a sword though. And I remember two things from my past clearly. A battle where all I wanted was to kill, and another where…" A lump in my throat formed. I forced it down and continued. "…where I had lost someone."

Eldrie looked confused. "That's very strange. After all, the Taboo Index ensures that you can't be harmed. After all, I couldn't even enter the Dark Territory if I wanted to. Maybe you really are an Integrity Knight."

I shrugged as I stabbed a piece of pork with my fork. "That's what I want to find out."

The sounds of rain begun to subside. It didn't take us long to finish our meals. Once we had, we headed outside where the sun had begun to break through the clouds. "Well, we probably should get going." Eldrie smiled. I nodded. We retrieved the wagon and begun to head out of the village. I got my map out and looked up at the sky to determine the direction we should be going in. Centoria should only be a few hours away, so we should reach it by evening meal.

As we went along however…something began to grow in my chest. A feeling.

_I'm no longer alone._

"You okay?" Eldrie nudged me.

"It's nothing. Just a feeling, that's all."

The sun was high in the sky as Centoria came into view. Clean white walls formed a border that encased the city. From it, I could see walls stretching for miles, separating the Wesdarath Empire from the rest. Between these walls and the mountains surrounding the entire place, the Human Empire was beginning to feel more and more enclosed.

"Well, thanks to your memory loss, I guess you don't know if you've been here before. But welcome to Centoria." Eldrie stretched his arms to the sky, exhausted from having to draw the wagon all the way there.

I jumped off as Eldrie began to slowly park the wagon outside the gate. We headed inside to find a beauty of a city. Peral white buildings lined the streets, held together by stone and wood. The amount of glass made it difficult to see at certain angles. Some buildings had black designs over the doors, showing the occupation of the residents. The stalls that lined the streets once again had food of higher quality and quantity than I had seen elsewhere in this world. Cheese rolls the size of small barrels, fruits that filled the air with a ripeness that could only have come from being freshly picked, meats that were cooked in every way imaginable…you named it, they probably had it.

But above all this, dwarfing it all, was a massive tower. I had seen it before on the approach to this place, but even then, I couldn't have imagined it would be this tall. But even then, it seemed to stretch even higher, as the top was covered by a thick mist. It seemed to be made from the same white stone that created the wall around Centoria.

"I hope I don't get lost trying to find the Swordscraft Academy." I muttered under my breath.

"Head down the main street until you see a garden area on your right, and it should be in those gardens." Eldrie let out a yawn. "Well Light, it was a pleasure. If it weren't for you, I might still be stuck in that ditch." He offered his hand.

"No problem." I took it. "Next time we meet though, it might not be under such friendly circumstances."

"Indeed. And should we meet on the battlefield, may our battle be glorious." We shook hands before leaving each other behind.

"Are you sure this is a good idea Kiku?" Higa frowned as he leaned back in his chair. "I know that you owe Sean for use of the Infinity Project, but putting these two into the same world as each other isn't going to end well."

"It'll be fine." Kikuoka pushed his glasses back up his nose. "True, I had my doubts too. Hopefully blocking Light's memories will help."

Higa shook his head. "He's already starting to remember."

"Now that is a problem." A man and two women approached the duo. "Ah, Dr Rinko. A pleasure. It's nice to see you've finally decided to join us." He spread his arms wide. "Welcome to Rath."

"Lieutenant Colonel Kikuoka." Rinko raised an eyebrow in concern. "Why are you dressed like that?"

Kikuoka saluted the man that had escorted Rinko and the other woman as he took his leave, tightening his kimono more. "I've been in the middle of the ocean for a month. I can't always be wearing my uniform." He stood up straight and walked over to them. "I see my persistence has paid off. It's a dream come true that you joined us."

"I can't guarantee if I'll be of any use." Rinko frowned.

"You're one of the three people I feel are indispensable to this project." Kikuoka nodded.

"Then I'll ask you this Mr Kikuoka." The other woman took off her glasses and gripped her hair, removing it to reveal bright orange hair and eyes. "Where is Kirito, and why is Light here?"

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**So then, I think it's time for some exposition on who Light is and how he got into Underworld. I've already said he's a survivor of another Death Game, but why is he there in Underworld and what this Infinity Project? Well, stay tuned. A lot of this will be explained in the next chapter. ****Honestly, I was kind of torn between bringing in one of my characters from The Land Beyond into the real world story. But ultimately decided against it for now. After all, Rinko would have a much harder time sneaking in.**

**But to my surprise, Eldrie was a nice change of pace to write. I think him and Light have a nice friendship to start off from. I may have taken some liberties with his personality, but we don't exactly know what he was like before he became an Integrity Knight. That's the main reason I'm placing Light and Kirito i different places, and putting Light in the Wesdarath Empire. It give me a lot of freedom.**

**Anyway, I hope you look forward to the next chapter. Thank you to all who favourited and followed. Criticism is appreciated as always. Until next time, stay cool.**


	7. 6: Infinite Alicization

**Rather short chapter. Didn't want to bore people with details they already knew. At least, I hope you know. If not, watch Episode 6 of Alicization.**

**_Italics_ inside speech marks signify the speaker is speaking in English.**

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Chapter 6

Infinite Alicization

Kikuoka looked shocked as he saw Asuna. Higa was surprised, but had a smile on his face after the initial surprise had passed. "I knew it." He muttered to himself.

"Now do you know why I felt obliged to accept your invitation, Mr Kikuoka?" Rinko was now glaring. Yet even her anger couldn't compare to Asuna's. "When I got her email, it wove such a strange tale."

Kikuoka no longer had a smile on his face. "In order to verify your assistant's identity, we had to do a bunch of checks on the photo we got from the university database."

Asuna nodded. "Yeah, I can't tell you how many times they scrutinized my face. But the photo from the university had already been switched out. After all, I have a friend who is good at bypassing defences."

Every word was pissing Kikuoka off more. This is how easy it was for Asuna to get inside the Ocean Turtle. Even so… "How did you find out about Light?"

"Before Kirito had vanished, we were talking to someone online who had been through a similar experience to the SAO Survivors." Asuna explained. "Her name was Holly, and she and Light were part of another Death Game called The Land Beyond. She said that Light had gone to America to try and solve an issue with the databank that was at the core of the game they were trapped in. She hadn't heard from him since. Kirito tried to get in contact with one of the staff but he refused to talk, until his daughter called us and told us that you took him in after something went wrong."

Higa leaned back in his chair, shaking his head in disbelief. "Honestly Kiku, I told you bringing in Kirigaya was enough of a risk."

"Don't worry Higa. If it was just Light, I wouldn't have helped out." Rinko folded her arms as she leaned onto a console. "But after Asuna reached out and told me about Kirigaya's situation, I wanted to help."

"Tell me Kikuoka!" Asuna's temper began to rise even more. "Did you lie when you said you could help Kirito?"

Kikuoka pushed his glasses back up his nose again. "After the attack by the Death Gun fugitive, Kirito suffered severe brain damage, too much for modern medicine to cure. However, here at Rath, we have the technology to treat him. I'm sure Kirito has told you about it. The Soul Translator." Asuna nodded to confirm she did indeed know about it, but the frown showed she was still confused on how it could happen. "By directly stimulating Kirito's Fluctlight using the STL, we can induce the generation of a new neural network."

Asuna seemed to calm herself, but Rinko didn't budge at all. "Then what of the other boy? Light? Was he your test dummy or something?"

"I doubt you've heard of the No Land Beyond incident, but we've been researching it quite extensively." Higa began typing in the keyboard next to him. The massive screen that took up most of the back wall began to show a map. It was in the shape of the Rath logo, with two circles. One was a larger white one that sat on the left side of the map. The other was a dark fortress. The rest of the land was dead, dry and rocky. The scale of this world was insane. "Tell me, how big in terms of data do you think this is?"

Asuna frowned. "I guess hundreds of gigabytes, but it couldn't have been bigger than Aincrad."

Higa pointed at Asuna, a massive grin on his face. "Wrong! This world is hundreds times the size of Aincrad, and it grows bigger every second."

Both Asuna and Rinko had a look of shock pass on their faces. They looked at the map, but the land remained the same size. "What do you mean?"

"In terms of a human brain, every second that goes by, the amount of data increases. You can recall every moment, even if you can't relive it. We can recall any moment in Underworld, whenever we want."

Asuna was still confused. But Rinko seemed to understand. "Do you mean you have a recording of every person inside that world at every moment?"

Kikuoka nodded. "For 300 years."

For the newcomers, this was absolutely unbelievable. Asuna had heard of the Fluctlight Acceleration, but the idea that they could basically recreate any moment whenever they need to was ridiculous. But she could guess who held the answer.

Higa pressed a few more keys and the screen changed. It showed a cluster of tens of thousands of lights. "These are the Fluctlights of every person in Underworld, the Lightcube Cluster. Each one is the same as a human brain." Then he pressed one more key and the entire Cluster became a speck on the screen. "And this is it compared to the databank we're using."

"T-that's impossible." Rinko gasped. "It took an entire basement of servers and hard drives in order to store Aincrad."

"This is Project Infinity." Kikuoka's smile finally returned. "A databank capable of storing infinite data. Created by the same company who made The Land Beyond. And we have the privilege of owning the second one ever."

"How?" Asuna looked at the tiny speck in disbelief. To think that a hundred thousand humans couldn't even fill one percent of this…super hard drive was unbelievable.

"They built one for us in exchange for a favour. And recently, they cashed it in."

"Light." Rinko echoed Asuna's thoughts.

Kikuoka nodded. "Recently, Infinity suffered from a cyber attack. Light went inside to stop the issue and never woke up. One of the developers, Sean, asked us to heal him. After all, we're the only ones in the world who have the technology to heal that level of brain damage."

Something wasn't adding up. "So how long has Light been here?" Asuna crossed her arms. "Was he your test to make sure that Kirito could live in this Underworld?"

"We put Kirito in only a minute after Light. We already had Kirito diving in before at Roppongi, so he was easy to insert into the world. But Light, we had to create an avatar from scratch." Kikuoka sighed, drawing a chair to sit on.

Higa began typing, two Fluctlights talking up the majority of the screen. One was bright and white. The other was bright, but dark patches were all over the surface, as if some sort of corruption was taking hold. "Kirito's Fluctlight is stable, as you can see on the left. But Light's seems to be suffering from some sort of overload. In a sense, he has too many memories that are all trying to return at once. He's regained some memories it seems, but the cause is unknown. Best guess we have is he's experiencing moments similar to the moments that he has remembered."

"Due to his past though, it's not a good idea to try and reactivate his memories. It could endanger his recovery." Kikuoka sighed.

Asuna looked towards the screen and frowned. It showed the Central Cathedral. Both Kirito and Light were there, somewhere. "Kikuoka, will it be possible for me to at least tell Holly that Light is alright?"

"_Thank you._"

The other girl looked devastated. Asuna couldn't help but feel guilty that she couldn't deliver better news.

Due to the language barrier, Asuna couldn't really explain it all. Due to the limited English that Kirito had taught her though, she was able to tell Holly about Light's situation.

Holly was two years younger than Asuna, with blonde hair that rested just above her shoulders. Some of it was pulled behind her head in a ponytail. Her eyes were a bright sky blue. She was very thin as well, most likely a lasting effect from her time in a death game.

"_I'm sorry._" Asuna looked down.

Holly shook her head. "_It's fine. I'll manage. Just knowing Light is alright is good enough for me._"

"_I'll update you._" Asuna nodded. She didn't understand a lot of that last sentence. _Maybe I should learn English while I'm here._ Kirito really help with translating when they were speaking last time.

Holly nodded. They ended the call and Higa shut off the signal. Asuna let out a sigh. She looked back at the monitor. _Wait, was Holly on a plane?_

* * *

**So hopefully that was adequate explanation enough for now. Of course, when I start publishing my web novel, you'll get to see Light's journey from the very beginning to the end. I should also mention that this is an alternate ending for Light. In his world, SAO never happened and after the "cyber attack", he went on to live a normal life.**

**Again, I wanted to keep the chapter short as to not repeat information that can be found in the anime/light novels. Speaking of Light Novels, I finished all the Alicization novels and they are amazing. Can't wait for War of the Underworld in October.**

**As always, thanks for reading. Next chapter, we'll be returning to Underworld. Criticism is appreciated as always. Until next time, stay cool.**


	8. 7: Swordscraft Academy

**Hello again. Sorry for the huge wait. I've explained in Fatal Bullet Rewrite but I'll give a short explanation here too at the bottom.**

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Chapter 7

Swordscraft Academy

I sucked in a deep breath as I readied my sword. It was parallel to the ground, ready to unleash my skill. I leapt forwards towards my opponent and brought my sword down onto their head. Yet the strike was blocked easily and I felt their foot connect with my jaw, sending me flying backwards.

"Get up." The rough voice muttered. I pushed myself onto my feet and readied my sword again. The flimsy wooden sword went first this time, aiming for centre mass. My sword was knocked upwards and I received a kick to the gut as a reward. I landed roughly, my arm feeling like to was about to explode from pain.

A deep sigh came from my opponent. "Disappointing." He sheathed his sword and opened up his flask of water.

I bent my knee, staying in a crouched position and bowing my head. I didn't say a word, sweat dripping down my face. I felt ashamed. "Apologies sir."

He raised an eyebrow. "No excuses? Yet I sense you're troubled."

I swallowed the lump in my throat. "Apologies again sir. I have an errand to run after training, and I have my focus on that rather than training. But that is no excuse."

Hearty laughter filled the hall. "And I suppose that errand involves a woman." His laughter eased some of the disappointment I was feeling.

I had departed from Eldrie about a year ago. I hadn't exactly changed much in the last year. My hair was slightly longer, and I had changed from my villager outfit to the page uniform, which was a grey jacket with several insignias on the white shoulder pad and neckpiece, grey pants and black shoes.

It turned out I had just missed the opportunity to put in my application, so I had to wait for a while. I spent that year exploring Centoria and completing odd jobs for people to earn money, like hunting monsters that were roaming too close to villages and deliveries. Luckily next year, I was in time and took my place as Primary Trainee Light, page to Lord Grant.

Lord Grant loved two things more than anything. His sword and his drink. He was from a noble family, which most commoners were wary of. But luckily for me, Lord Grant was a kind fellow. He stood at six foot, muscular and clean shaven. He had scarlet long hair that was brushed back but unkept, which threw people off considering his status. He wore a dull orange uniform with a bronze armband. His skill with the sword was mediocre at best, but his defence was undeniably the best in the academy. Overall, he was ranked 4th in the academy…mostly because he was drunk when he fought.

"We then my boy, I suppose we should finish up soon so you can go woo this woman." He laughed, grabbing a towel and wiping the sweat off his face. "Though I suppose I should mention where you're going wrong. You rely too much on tells. In a sword fight, this won't be an issue. However, when facing an opponent like myself, you're the one giving the tells."

"Thank you sir." I picked up my own towel.

"Listen my boy, when I see you walking around outside of training, you carry two swords. I wonder why you don't use two swords during training?"

I looked over to the corner where my two swords sat. "One was given to me by a friend. It was the first gift I received in this world. The other I got from the Vetal Duelling Tournament. I haven't really thought about dual wielding."

"Ah, I see. Sentimental reasons." Lord Grant slapped me on the back, making me stumble forward a few feet. "Well then my boy, I expect you to improve immensely tomorrow. I'll accept your excuse unless you continue to perform like this." I bowed. "I'll see you later for cleaning. No excuse for underperforming there." He laughed again.

I went over to the corner and grabbed my Night Shadow Blade and Myne's Sword. I attached them both to my belt and headed outside. The weather was pleasant and the wind was light. Judging by the position of the sun, I was meeting Myne in about half an hour.

I had managed to keep in contact with Myne through letters that I gave to a merchant. He made runs between Centoria and Vetal so it wasn't too out of his way, and I paid him so he was more than happy to take it to the Church and give me letters when he came back. I found out that she was coming to Centoria for a week.

"Where are you going then?"

I jumped in surprise. I looked to the garden and sighed. "I swear you stand there waiting for me every day to pass by."

Kimiko smirked. "Damn, you caught me out."

Kimiko had stayed behind in Vetal for a few weeks then journeyed here. She was the page of the Rank 7, Lilith Jade, a commoner. Since coming to the Academy, she had begun to use a single edged longsword. Her hair was no longer tied in a ponytail as she was no longer a blacksmith, hanging loose and resting just above her shoulders. She was wearing the female page uniform, which had a grey skirt and brown boots.

"So where are you heading off to in such a hurry?" She grabbed an apple from a paper bag she was holding and took a bite out of it.

"Myne is in Centoria for a week." I shrugged.

Kimiko's smirk widened. "Oh, I see. Well, don't let me hold you up from your date."

"Yeah, yeah. I only know you're teasing to hide your jealousy."

"I could get a boyfriend if I wanted. Just don't want one." She took another bite but I could still see her pout.

I walked away, waving behind me as I went. As soon as I exited the grounds, I was met with busy streets, people walking around and doing their daily chores. Centoria was always like this, even on days of rest. I had heard that every part of Centoria was busy, but Wesdarath had the densest population. Probably due to the forest of fruit trees that had been growing near the northern border which allowed for trade. Though a lot of people were visiting Norlangarth.

About a week after I got that feeling of no longer being alone in this world, a huge tree called Gigas Cedar had been cut down, apparent three years before it was meant to. Many had begun travelling there to take a look at the fallen tree. Meanwhile, I was more interested in who cut it down. According to the crier, it was a boy named Eugeo…and with him was someone called Kirito.

I wanted to try and find Kirito and ask him what he knew about me, if anything at all. But nobody seemed to know anything other than he was Eugeo's companion. I sighed to myself, leaning against a wall as I waited for Myne.

It didn't take long to feel a weight on my back. I stumbled backwards and patted the arms around my neck and smiled. "Okay, you got me."

"You're still so tall." The arms let go and I turned to see the familiar redhead. She had grown an inch or two, but overall was the same Myne I remember. Her nun outfit hadn't changed, apart from a red ribbon around her neck. "I hardly recognised you in that uniform. You look really…what's the word?"

"Formal?" I guessed.

"Handsome! That's the one."

I felt some heat in my cheeks and shook my head. "Oh come on."

"Hehe…you're too easy." Myne grabbed the sword and pulled it out of the sheath. "You can hardly see the crack in it."

I smiled sadly. "I didn't mean to break it."

"Yeah, I know." Myne shrugged before giving it back. "Besides, I got to see that amazing Sacred Art that you used."

I looked around. "So, is there anywhere you want to go?"

"I don't know. You probably know this place better than me. Take me somewhere interesting."

I began to run through the places I knew that Myne might like. It suddenly hit me that I knew very little of what she liked…or what girls liked in general. Kimiko hadn't helped in the slightest, preferring to tease me rather than actually talk to me. Besides, she seemed to be more of a tomboy anyway. Luckily, I heard Myne's stomach growl, which reminded me of a small café that was only down the street. "Fancy some food?"

"Haha…yeah…" Myne giggled, embarrassed.

"So what have you been doing at the Church since I left?" I took a sip of my drink while I waited for Myne to finish her mouthful.

Myne swallowed and let out a satisfied sigh. "Well, the day after you left, Killian was promoted to vice captain of the guard. We held a celebration at the town square. He told everyone that you had earned the sword. Since then, it's been slow. I've been getting better at Sacred Arts though and here I am."

"Good." I passed her a napkin as I raised a piece of cake to my mouth.

"And I'm getting married."

I almost choked. I managed to swallow the cake and catch my breath. "Sorry…that just caught me by surprise."

"Yeah, I wasn't expecting it so soon either." Myne's voice had gotten noticeably sadder.

I took a moment to take it in. Myne seemed way too young to have that happen to her. I took a sip of my drink. "So who's the lucky guy?"

"You remember Karma?" I did, and could immediately see why Myne wasn't thrilled about marrying him. Even in the short time I saw him, I could tell he wasn't exactly the most friendly guy. "Well, he's the son of a second rank noble and wants to become an Integrity Knight. He was supposed to win the tournament this year as it was his last opportunity to get into the Swordcraft Academy, but as you can probably tell, he's not exactly the best swordsman. So now he's trying every other way. He thinks he can get an audience with the Pontifex by having strong connections to the Church. And because he overheard me bad mouthing him, he had noble jurisdiction over me."

"And so he forced you to marry him?"

"Yeah…after other things." Myne's face was pale. I reached across the table and placed my hand on top of hers. She flinched slightly, but forced a smile. "It's fine. I'll be fine. Sister Fornell has been helping me a lot. And Killian has been keeping a close eye on him to make sure that he isn't doing horrible to me."

A pit grew in my stomach as I heard her recounting her experiences. "Well, at least you have other people. I wish I could do more."

Myne shook her head. "You should focus on this first."

"If he does anything, let me know." I said sternly. "As soon as I can, I'll come and teach him a lesson."

Her forced smile was replaced with a genuine one, a sparkle in her eye. "Thank you Light."

The sun was beginning to lower, the position saying it was about two hours until the sky turning gold. I stood up and smiled. "So should I escort you back to your residence? I need to return to Lord Grant soon."

"If you have the time, then why not?" Myne stood up and we headed out. I stacked our leftover cutlery, something that had become routine since I was at the Academy.

The streets were a lot less busy since this morning. A few stores were open but they rarely got business this late in the day. Myne led me down the main street and through one side street to her inn. She stopped outside and curtseyed. "I'll hopefully see you again soon." I bowed.

"Yeah, hopefully." Her right eye twitched slightly. "Hey Light, can you promise me something please?"

"Sure."

"When you become an Integrity Knight, come and see me again."

I smiled. "Even if I didn't, I would."

Myne nodded. She hesitated before stepping towards me and planting a kiss on my cheek.

I stood there, a little shocked by the action. It felt familiar, something I didn't expect to feel. I shook myself out of my trance to ask Myne why but she was gone, most likely retreating into the inn. I considered going in but decide against it.

_A promise…_

"Spotless as always my boy!" Lord Grant raised his bottle of beer. "Maybe I should hire you to be a janitor back at my parent's mansion." He laughed loudly as I stood there in a salute. "I'm glad you're back to your normal self. I admit, I was a little worried that your performance was slipping today. But it seems I was wrong."

I bowed. "Thank you sir."

"Anyway, training will be tomorrow. I expect you to be awake. I'd hate to get that trainee to wake you up again."

I shuddered, remembering hearing Kimiko yelling outside my dorm, only to receive a cup of water to the face as soon as I came out. That was not a pleasant morning. "I'll see you tomorrow sir." I bowed again before retreating, knowing he would engage in a drunken conversation about something random if I stayed too long.

As I entered my dorm and sat down at a desk. There were only two others that shared the dorm, and they both took forever to clean. I opened my journal and stopped to think before writing. Even though a lot had happened, I didn't know what to start with.

I wrote down one thing though.

_I might be in love with Myne._

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**A bit longer than the previous chapter I'd say. Again, sorry for the brevity of that chapter. My mental health was taking a downwards spiral at that point, which one of the reasons I took a break. Another reason is that I was working on writing for a sample for a game and have dedicated a lot of time to that. Hopefully I'll never leave a project this long again.**

**Reviews:**

**Cdswalkthrough: I'll probably end up rewriting this chapter as I wasn't happy with it. I'll probably leave out a few parts still as you probably shouldn't be reading this without the anime for context. My version doesn't touch the first 12 episodes of the anime after all.**

**Again, really sorry about the delay. I'll try to make sure it never happens again. Until next time, Stay Cool.**


	9. 8: Students and Masters

**Hello there. It certainly has been a while. Sorry for the delay in this chapter. I've been sort of stuck in this creative block. But I managed to push through and I'm here now. So, here we go again.**

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Chapter 8

Students and Masters

The sun peaked through the window. I threw the sheets over my head in an effort to shield myself from it.

Or…that's what I tried to do. I wasn't in bed. I was standing in a forest, the sun slowly moving across the canopy. The only sound I could hear was the wind lightly pushing the branches above me.

I clad in some kind of scale armour, dyed a royal purple, with a golden chestplate and spiked pauldrons protecting my upper chest and shoulders. A thick leather belt wrapped around my waist, held by what seemed to be gold claws. Dark gauntlets covered my hands. Faded blue trousers covered my legs and my feet donned golden greaves, the same as the chestplate.

_Where am I?_ I checked my armour. It was surprisingly comfortable, and extremely light. It almost felt nostalgic. No, this used to be something that I wore constantly.

I felt something hit my forehead. I wiped it off and looked at it. The crimson red was dry and thick. I blinked several times before I realised it was blood.

More began falling, and despite the trees above, it seemed to cover me. I couldn't move from my spot, my legs frozen. My hands were shaking as my brown hair and white skin was stained red. I could feel my breathing becoming harder as it began to fill my throat. The forest was being filled with a shallow pool of blood.

Someone else was approaching me from the forest. The shadow was stained with blood, but they didn't seem bothered by it.

_Don't you remember?_

A female voice echoed in my head. I knew it belonged to the shadow. She stepped forwards into the light so I could see her face.

_This is where you killed me._

"Crystal!"

I panted as I sat up in bed, grabbing my head. My body was drenched in sweat and my heart was racing.

"What the hell was that for?" One of my roommates didn't seem pleased with the sudden outburst. I waved it off and lay back down on my pillow.

_What was that? And who is Crystal? Did I…did I really kill her?_

I shook my head. If there's one thing I'm sure I'm not capable of, it's killing someone. I sighed, pushing myself into a sitting position and grabbing my jacket. However, I kept going over the dream in my head as I headed down towards Lord Grant's room. It had felt so real. I could still taste the blood in my mouth. It must've happened.

God I hated how these memories came back to me. They never seemed to be in full context…and all they caused was pain. Even after a year, I still had no idea who Leon was, and I had another mystery added to the list.

"If you keep that look on your face for much longer, then you're going to age a few years."

The voice brought me back to reality. I looked up to see Kimiko standing in front of me. I sighed, shaking my head. "Sorry, I'm just thinking."

"Oh? Care to share?" Kimiko shifted the books in her grip. I wanted to, but based on how people seemed to respond with confusion to hearing things that violated the Taboo Index, I decided against it. I shook my head before moving on. I could feel her gaze on the back of my head, but I continued on. I wanted to focus on the day ahead of me.

But that girl…

I leapt towards Lord Grant, my sword in a high guard position before swinging it around in a perfect arc, aiming for his left leg. He brought his sword down to block before doing a wild upwards swing at my chest. I blocked it, sliding back because of the sheer strength behind his strike. I dug my foot into the ground and threw myself back at him, taking advantage of his exposed waist. He smiled as my sword stopped short of touching his tunic.

"Marvellous my boy!" His hearty laughter echoed from the walls of the training hall. I bowed and sheathed the training sword on my waist. "I glad that yesterday was just a one off." Lord Grant walked over to the pile of towels and wiped the sweat off his face before taking a swig from a flask. "I think you'll be ready."

"For the Four Empire Tournament?" I frowned in confusion. I wasn't going to be participating for a while.

"Yeah. If you can beat me, you can beat him." Lord Grant took another swig. "I never told you about Golgorosso, have I?"

"No." I set the training sword in the sword rack at the side before retrieving my blade.

"He's my cousin. A smug son of a bitch who always is boasting about how much great his Baltio Style is. You'll likely be facing him next year." Lord Grant sighed as he replaced the cap on his flask and pocketed it. "'I'll be the best knight in the world!' he always claims. 'I'll beat anyone who tries to defeat me!'. Pisses me right off."

"Have you never had a duel with him? Maybe that'll shut him up."

He laughed, but instead of his usual cheery laughter, it was cold. "Even if the proud git accepted it, I would lose. Then I would never be able to prove anything. But you my boy, you have the most amount of natural talent at swordsmanship I've ever seen. So much so, I believe your memory isn't gone. Not entirely."

"Maybe." I looked down at the Night Shadow Blade. He was right. Every time I picked up a sword, it felt like I was scratching at the surface of my memory, which is why everything came so naturally to me.

"Either way, it would look dumb for an Elite Disciple of the Sword Mastery Academy to challenge a Page of the Swordscraft Academy." Lord Grant drank from his flask once more and smiled. "I'll see you this evening my boy."

"Training isn't over sir." I yelled after him.

"We'll call it reduced time due to overperformance." He laughed as he closed the door behind him.

I shook my head and slipped the two swords into my belt. I headed down the hall and passed by an occupied training room. Usually, I would just walk past, when I saw a flash of a weapon out of the corner of my eye. It was pure white, three strikes before there was a stab in the middle. It shattered the opponent's blade. It obviously wasn't the full skill, but was powerful.

I looked through the window to see Kimiko bowing to her Elite Disciple, Lilith, before heading towards the towels. I decided to move on before being spotted. _That skill Kimiko used was new. Damn, it might be a difficult fight when we clash._

"You know you're not supposed to spy on other's training."

I froze when I heard the smooth voice of Lilith behind me. I turned around and bowed. "Apologies, I wasn't spying. I only saw the flash of a skill in the corner of my eye and that drew my attention."

Over the course of the year, I had only interacted with Lilith a few times, most of them were in passing. The only conversation only happened because Kimiko had tripped me straight into her and I happened to land with my face between her breasts. Normally, I wouldn't complain, but with an Elite Disciple, that should've been suicide. Luckily, she understood it wasn't my fault.

Her big round eyes were silver like the moon, and had long black hair that reached halfway down her back. She had an emerald green uniform, and uniquely, a red scarf wrapped around her shoulders, and thigh high brown boots. At her side was a curved two-handed sword; a katana.

"Training isn't supposed to end for another ten minutes. I suppose you have a good reason for leaving early?"

"Elite Disciple Grant dismissed me early due to overperformance." I made sure to use his exact words.

Lilith sighed. "Sounds like him alright. Seems like you take after him well. I suggest not peaking in on a training session. Some Disciples enjoy punishing wrongdoers."

"Yes ma'am!" I turned on my heel again and walked in the opposite direction quickly before Kimiko realised what was happening, otherwise I'd never hear the end of it.

Despite the fact that I was walking away at a brisk pace, I soon felt a finger tap on my shoulder. I rolled my eyes and turned around, seeing Kimiko stood there. "Wow, I didn't expect to hear you getting told off and just dealing with it."

"I've been told to listen to people higher in status than me. Or is that actually not part of the Taboo Index?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah. Well, which skill did you see?"

"I didn't a full skill, just the end of one that flashed white." I admitted. "It was great from what I saw."

Kimiko nodded. "Well, as long as you didn't see the entire thing. That's the skill I'm going to take you down with." A cocky smirk appeared on her face.

"How do you know it's not going to be a repeat of last time?" I shot back.

"Because I know every trick you know and more." She walked past me, waving her hand in the air. "I'll see you at dinner."

I crossed my arms and shook my head. "She's confident at least."

The dining hall was filled again. The Swordcraft Academy had the highest population out of any of the schools, and that came with a lot of full seats at dinner. Usually, a lot of these students would be training or outside, but the weather had taken a turn for the worst. Everyone was cramped together, fighting for the best seats. Sometimes I wondered if everyone was better at fighting for seats than they were at fighting in a duel.

I scanned the area for some sort of seating to claim when Kimiko tapped me on the shoulder. "You look like a lost puppy looking around here." She smiled. "Elite Disciple Lilith invited us to eat in her dorm. Considering the lunacy of this lot, I'm glad."

"She's invited me too?"

"Yeah. Don't worry about getting food, she'll have some upstairs. Come on, there's no chance of getting a seat in here today." I still hadn't identified an empty space, so I followed her towards the door.

Soon though came that snarky voice. "Oh my, those two are sneaking off together."

I sighed. "Please let it be today that I can punch him in the face."

Diaz Loaf was a fourth ranked noble, and had a lot less respect for common folk than someone like Lord Grant. He was in the same year as me and Kimiko and was slightly taller than me. His hair was a bright scarlet colour, pushed upwards into a spiky hairstyle. His eyes were pale green, and his face always seemed to be fixed in a self-indulgent grin.

Diaz stopped in front of the two of us, blocking the door. "I hear fighting words, but I see nothing to back them up Light." He smirked at me. "I heard you woke up screaming this morning. Do you still have nightmares?"

_Keep talking and I'll be feeding you your tray…_

Kimiko was also looking rather peeved. But before either of us could say anything…

"Is there a problem here?" Lord Grant appeared. Diaz turned to insult him, but was immediately halted when he noticed the fire in Lord Grant's eyes. There was very few things that could make him that furious, and it was kind of an honour that he would always get angry if someone would start messing with me, despite insisting that I can handle it.

"No sir." Diaz quickly walked away.

"Thanks sir, but-"

"But you could handle it." Lord Grant and Kimiko finished my sentence. I scratched the back of my head, laughing under my breath. "Well, off you go you two. Don't want to be hanging around this crowd too long."

"Thanks Lord Grant!" Kimiko yelled behind her as she walked through the door that I was now holding open.

I saw Diaz glaring at me from the other side of the room. I mentally sighed before following Kimiko out.

* * *

**I've been waiting to adapt the moment into the story. This was a major turning point in the original series for Light, which I'm very much looking forward to getting to when I get round to finally writing that.**

**Speaking of, I've decided something in the last few weeks. This will probably disappoint a lot of people, but when I get to the end of the Human Empire arc, or at least where that takes place, I'll be putting this story on hiatus so I can focus on No Land Beyond. But once I publish at least the ones that are relevant to this story, I'll come back. Partly because I won't be doing these flashback moments anymore, and partly because I want people to check out No Land Beyond and don't want them to be able to just come here and get the full story.**

**But, I will be publishing the first part of No Land Beyond here for you to read and see if you enjoy it. I hope you all will. It's been several years in the making and I've poured every writing lesson I've learned into it. So stay tuned.**

**And until next time, Stay Cool.**


	10. 9: A Simple Mistake

**Another chapter down. Damn, what's this? Me making an update to both of my stories in quick succession? Must be back when I first started XD**

**Anyway, you might've noticed something weird with the first chapter, the Prologue. I'll explain down at the bottom. Enjoy.**

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Chapter 9

A Simple Mistake

The Elite Disciple Dorms were right next to the lunch hall, with the trainee ones another building along. It didn't take long for us to get there. Lilith was ranked seventh out of a possible twelve, so her room was on the ground floor. She was sharing with the rank eight, but he was never really there except to sleep.

Kimiko knocked on the door and soon Lilith answered. "Come on in."

I headed inside and saw a large piece of meat, gammon if I wasn't mistaken, sat in the centre of the table, with bowls containing a variety of side dishes, sauces and seasonings. I was stunned by the amount there, but judging by Kimiko's calm expression, this was standard. "She's a real glutton…" She muttered under her breath.

"Well, at least your mentor has an appetite for food rather than wine." I sighed, remembering the amount of glass bottles I've thrown away.

"And you both have an appetite for battle." Lilith pushed us both towards the sofas. We sat on opposite sides, Lilith and Kimiko on one side and me on the other. "Sit down and eat. It's better than the stuff in the lunch hall."

I took one of the plates from the pile. I had a hard time picking things because there was so much, and I was distracted by Lilith just piling one of everything onto her plate. Kimiko was right, she was a glutton.

"So…um…thanks for inviting me up." I finished grabbing food and leaned back on the sofa.

"No problem." Lilith shrugged. "The dining hall was extremely busy this time of year when I was a page. And I know you both enjoy each other's company."

That was bad timing. Both me and Kimiko had food in our mouths, and were both off guard. I felt the gammon get stuck in my throat and I coughed it back up. Lilith was laughing as she patted Kimiko on the back, who was punching her chest, a pained look on her face. "Mentor, please don't joke like that while eating…" Kimiko strained to speak.

"Who said I was joking?" Lilith smiled. "Am I?"

_Ah, I see why she invited me here now. She's having some fun._ Well, it was a good opportunity to embarrass Kimiko. "Yeah, Kimiko's great to hang out with."

As expected, Kimiko went bright red. "I…I think he's…nice…"

I felt my cheeks getting a little warm. "A-anyway, um…"

Lilith burst out laughing again. "You two are adorable. So then Light, Kimiko says you have…amnesia, was it?" Kimiko nodded. "So my question is how does someone that can't remember anything beat Kimiko in a fight. She's gotten close to besting me at times."

Like everyone else who asked me about my skills, I had no definite answers. "Well, I'm not exactly sure myself. But it feels so familiar to pick up a sword and fight."

"Still doesn't explain how you know my style of swordsmanship." Kimiko frowned.

"Believe me, I wish I knew too."

Lilith clapped her hands together. "I know exactly what it is."

Kimiko rolled her eyes. "Oh here we go…"

"It's simple. You can use a sword because it's engrained into your muscle memory. It's something you'll know no matter how many times you forget your past." Lilith took a bite before continuing. "Like how you've forgotten everything, but can still speak just fine."

I shrugged. "Lord Grant thinks that I haven't forgotten everything, and that it's just waiting to come back."

"Well, why hasn't it then?"

I leaned back, staring at the ceiling. "I don't know…"

"Grant has a lot of strange ideas." Lilith rolled her eyes. "Like he once told me that my stance was weak. He's a good fighter, but he's too focused on his opponent rather than himself."

"He's a good teacher. Just a little too heavy on the drink. But I've improved thanks to him." I shrugged.

Kimiko cleared her throat. "God, you two could talk for ages."

Lilith wrapped her arm around Kimiko's neck. "Aw, is Kimmy feeling neglected?"

"Mentor!" Kimiko blushed.

Soon enough, the table was cleared, the majority of it being in Lilith's stomach. She was flat out, mouth hanging open and snoring.

"I should probably head off. Lord Grant will be needing me for cleaning." I kind of felt guilty for leaving Kimiko to deal with this mass of plates.

Kimiko began stacking the plates, yawning as she did. "Don't worry, if I take these down to the kitchen, they'll clean them for me."

"You don't need help carrying them?"

"I've never needed help before."

"If you're sure…" I still felt slightly guilty for leaving her to do all this on her own. "Tell Elite Disciple Jade I said thanks."

"Will do."

"Thanks Kimmy."

"You call me that ever again, I'll put you on the ground before you can utter the entire name."

I laughed before walking out of the room, closing the door behind me. I turned to leave, when I saw Diaz standing outside his own mentor's room. "Well, well. Light, a page, being in a woman's room. Tongues could wag you know?" I sighed before turning away. "What's wrong? Did you actually do something in there? Should I write to that girl currently staying at the inn in Centoria, tell her that you're taken?"

I immediately halted, drawing my sword and pointing it at his throat. He seemed surprised by the action, but his sly smile remained on his face. "You dare try and hurt her in any way, and I'll-"

"You'll what? Kill me?" He scoffed. "You're willing to break the Taboo Index over a girl you clearly view as a side thing if you're willing to-"

A wave of fury washed over me, and it clearly showed in his eyes. "You want to find out."

His smile shook, but held firm. "Because of the disrespect you just showed me, I'm using my status as a fourth ranked noble to impose judicial authority over you."

I froze. Lord Grant had mentioned this to me before. Judicial authority was something that fourth ranking nobles and above had, and if they had reason to impose it, you were forced by the Taboo Index to obey.

I bit the inside of my cheek. "Alright then. What do you intend?"

"A duel, tomorrow morning when the sun hits its peak. Considering it's a day of rest, you should be free to stay in the infirmary for the rest of the day." He pointed to the Night Shadow Blade still in my hand. "And if I win, I want that sword."

I gripped it tight. I wasn't able to decline the duel, but this seemed overkill. But from what I've heard about nobles, overkill was the norm. I took a deep breath, a small smile appearing on my face. "You just made sure you've lost."

I fought for this sword. I broke my first gift for it, I defeated my friend for it, and someone died giving it to me. I wasn't about to lose it.

"Hmm…this is troubling." Lord Grant rubbed his chin.

I looked confused as I picked up the third bottle that had rolled under the sofa. "Why's that?"

"If he really wanted the sword, there's nothing stopping him from just asking for it. Yet he wants a duel for ownership of the blade." He leaned back against the sofa, lifting it slightly so I could pull another bottle away. "He's not looking to duel you for the sword. It's just a bonus. He just wants an excuse to hurt you without consequence."

I shrugged. "If he can. I'm pretty sure I can take him."

"If you've been holding out on me, maybe." Lord Grant raised an eyebrow. "Have you?"

I smiled slightly. "Kind of."

My style of fighting was very physical. Against an opponent of my size and weight, I could use that, but Lord Grant was taller and bigger than me, so I could hardly throw him around.

A wide grin spread across Lord Grant's face. "Well now, that's very interesting. So when I tell you to go all out on me, you were actually holding back?"

"No sir, I just simply can't when facing you." I didn't know how to explain it without sounding rude.

Lord Grant yawned spreading his arms across the back of the sofa. "Oh well. At least I get to see you go full out tomorrow when you beat that smug prick." He suddenly began snoring, dropping off to sleep in an instant.

I shook my head at him, picking up all the bottles and heading down to the kitchen to drop them off. There was always an instance of a glass smashing at least once a week, so they liked to have as much glass as possible to repurpose it.

It was still a while before I had to be back in the dorms, so I headed outside to practise some Sacred Arts. The gardens were quiet around his time of evening. I headed towards the fountain and sat down on the edge.

"Pssst!"

I looked around, not seeing anyone. "Must've been my imagination…" I looked forward and took a deep breath. "System Call…no, that doesn't sound right…"

Despite saying it exactly like everyone else, for some reason, I could not say the words 'System Call' like they do, or anything after that. Everyone then asks me why I say it strangely and I have no answer for them. It was being to worry me, because a large part of the Advancement Exam was Sacred Arts, and I couldn't perform a single one. And what was weirder, I could think the words perfectly fine, just that I couldn't say them.

"System Call…System Call…System Call…"

"Pssst!"

I looked around again and there was nothing. "Who's there?" I asked into the bushes.

"It's Myne."

"Myne? Where are you?" I identified the source of her voice, which was behind a hedge.

"Well, I can't exactly enter the grounds, so this'll have to do." I could almost hear her eye roll. "I just wanted to talk to you before heading back to Vetal."

I was confused, as it was only a few days since we met. But I guess she had been here for a while before we met up. "Ah, is it that time already?"

"Yeah." She sounded reluctant, which I couldn't blame her for. "Are you still coming back afterwards?"

"Of course. I wouldn't break a promise to you." I smiled.

She laughed. "Yeah, I should've guessed." I heard a rustling behind the hedge. "Hey, I spoke to Kimiko the other day. She's doing well despite-" I heard her clasp a hand over her mouth. "She's doing well."

"Yeah, but what were you saying?" I was confused, and a pit began to grow in my stomach.

"Sorry, was thinking of someone else."

That wasn't convincing at all, but decided to let it slide. It wasn't my business if Kimiko didn't want to tell me something. "Okay then. Well, I'll be seeing you in a year."

"Yeah. You'd be my knight in shining armour, literally."

A silly smile passed over my face. "Oh come on…"

Myne giggled. "Well, my carriage will be waiting for me early in the morning, so I need to go and get some sleep."

"No problem. I would come to see you off, but this noble has forced me to duel him."

"Noble problems seem to be rather common nowadays."

I nodded, laughing under my breath. "I'll talk to you later. Hopefully it won't be a long wait."

"I'll tell Killian you said hi." Her footsteps began to fade away.

A wave of sadness washed over me, knowing I wouldn't see her for an entire year. I wish we could've seen each other for longer. And knowing she would be spending that year with Karma made me feel sick.

At least I get to take all this out on Diaz tomorrow.

* * *

**So this will be fun, doing another duel. It's been 5 chapters since the last one, so it'll be nice to have some action going.**

**With the Prologue, I originally wrote it back when I first had the idea for the project. I thought I would end it with a climatic duel with Light and Kirito going all out on each other. Unfortunately, that isn't going to work out with the direction I'm taking the story. I have the ending fully planned out now, and so both of them won't duel with nothing to lose anymore. They might duel in a friendly way though ;) Either way, I suggest you go back and read it, as it's been overhauled, being an actual prologue this time.**

**This week has been rather productive though. I've been making progress on writing a lot, and hopefully that motivation continues...but most likely not. Either way, thanks for reading. **

**And as always, Stay Cool.**


	11. 10: Will to never break

**I should really stop getting motivation at the worst times. I'm publishing this at 3 AM XD But at least that's another chapter down for you all to enjoy.**

**Anyway, as always, see you at the bottom.**

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Chapter 10

Will to never break

"Wake up…you'll miss the duel."

"Hmm…" I murmured to myself as I stirred from my sleep. For some reason, I was on the floor next to my bed. I rubbed my eyes and found Lord Grant standing over me. I jumped up, placing my fist on my heart. "Sir!"

He rolled his eyes. "You're lucky. You have time to get ready for your duel."

I bowed. "Thank you for waking me sir, I'll get ready immediately." He nodded and headed out. I grabbed the fallen covers and make them look tidy. I grabbed my jacket, pulling it on and grabbing my swords. I walked out the door where Lord Grant was waiting. "You could've gone on ahead sir."

"I know, but I wanted to give you a few pointers, and I couldn't last night due to the drink." Lord Grant looked dead serious. I've never seen him look like this, not even while training. "Listen. The Loafian style is designed to wear down an opponent before delivering a final blow. You'll be placed in a test of endurance. And Diaz will quickly learn all your little tricks."

_So he watches his opponent to get an upper hand. Maybe I'm a little too over my head._

"However, if there's one thing you're good at, it's surprises. I know that from experience." He chuckled, placing a hand on my shoulder. His strong grip reassured me somewhat. "If you can pull off enough surprises, I'm sure you'll win this."

We had reached the entrance of the training hall. Normally for serious matches, we'd go up to Norlangarth's Sword Mastery Academy, as we didn't have an actual hall for duelling. But as this was a last minute challenge, this was the best we had. I turned to Lord Grant and bowed. "Sir, I promise you that this will be the biggest surprise yet."

He nodded. "Good. I have one job for you to accomplish: Win."

"Yes sir!"

I pushed open the doors, feeling my stomach twist as I saw that the hall was filled with at least a hundred students. Diaz was standing opposite the doors, sword already drawn. He had a cocky smirk on his face. He rested his sword on his shoulder. It was a one-handed sword like mine, but had a steel blade and a gold noble's crest on the cross guard, and a leather wrapped handle.

Within the circle created by the students was the head of the Academy, Mr Galsworthy. He was an esteemed master of the High Norkian Style, most commonly used by nobles from the Norlangarth Empire, and the High Westian Style, used by most nobles of the Westgarth Empire. He looked rather old, long grey hair reaching halfway down his back, and a goatee on his chin. His eyes were sharp and silver like the moon. He was wearing a dark blue knight's jacket and black slack pants, and on his belt was a thin rapier with an elegant design on the hilt.

_If he's moderating, then I should be fine. He's been fair in the rulings of duels in the past. I'm just wondering how much Diaz is going to dictate about the fight._

I stepped towards Diaz, looking around for the training swords we used during duels. "Where's the wooden swords?"

"Those? We're not using them." He patted his sword. "We're using our own swords."

"Are you kidding me? Someone could get hurt." I looked at all the students around. _He's done this on purpose, so I can't go all out on him without hurting someone. There's not enough room in here._

Of course, he decided to make a comment that made me angry. "What? You scared of getting a small scratch?"

Some of the students laughed at this. I sighed, unclipping Myne's Sword from my belt. I felt a hand on it, and I looked to see Kimiko. "I'll look after it." I nodded. She knew the importance of that blade to me, so I knew she would.

"I'm surprised you're not using that blade. Would be worth losing that one if it happened to break." His smirk got wider.

"Enough." I drew the Night Shadow Blade, getting into my stance. "Stop short rules."

Diaz's smiled vanished, his face taking a more focused look. "Fine by me."

Mr Galsworthy stepped between us. "The punishment for the disrespect of Lord Diaz Loaf will be carried out against Primary Trainee Light Darken." He took a step back, looking between us before bowing his head. "Begin."

I took a deep breath before leaping in. I did a wild overhead swing, knowing that Diaz would go for the block. He took the bait and in mid-leap, I rotated my wrists to go for his lower waist. To my surprise, Diaz moved faster than a man of his size should allow, throwing himself to the side and landing ready for my next strike.

_I need to do a two-part strike, one he dodges, and the other to land a solid hit._ I knew the exact move I wanted to do. Lord Grant had taught me about the moves that swordsmen used. Despite him wielding a two-handed blade, I should be able to replicate it.

I held my sword down by my waist, the blade turning red. The power behind the skill began to build. I jumped forwards, unleashing the two-handed skill Cyclone. I span around in a circle, aiming directly at Diaz's blade. He predictably jumped out of the way again. _Now, I just need to-_

I turned to see Diaz bringing a strike down on my head. I immediately brought my sword up in a guard position. Our blades collided, sparks flying from the impact. I felt all the power from the strike go into my arms, my bones threatening to crack. _How can there be so much power in this one strike!?_

Too many strikes like this, and my arms wouldn't be able to take this. Diaz knew that I had noticed this, his grin returning. He began to push harder on my sword, the steel and crystal blades creating a squealing sound as they rubbed against each other.

"You still think you can win peasant?" He hissed at me. "I'll break you apart."

I continued to push against his blade, but soon I would have to break the hold before I was forced to give up.

_Don't break._

A familiar voice filled my head. For some reason, it made me focus.

_He can't break you. No one can._

That's right.

"I've endured a lot worse that than this!" I yelled at Diaz. He began applying more pressure to the hold, making my arms hurt even more. But I could handle it.

_I can handle any amount of pain you throw at me!_

The power behind his blade seemed to reach a peak, and I suddenly dropped my sword and stepped to the side, spinning myself out of the sword's path. He was pushing so hard that he couldn't stop himself from tumbling forward. I let him take a step behind me, and as he did, I grabbed him by the back of his collar and threw him over my shoulder with all the remaining strength I had left. He flew across the hall, landing hard on his back.

I quickly rolled forwards, grabbing the Night Shadow Blade, and crouched down, extending my left leg forwards, blade horizontal to the ground. The blade glowed gold and I let it loose, flying straight at Diaz.

He saw it coming and rolled to the side. And just behind him was another student, her eyes instantly widening in fear. I pulled back on the skill, feeling it resisting against me, wanting to finish the strike. I resisted as long as I could, finishing by colliding straight into the student and my blade cutting straight into the wall.

I let go of the handle immediately, turning to the student. "Hey, are you alright?" Already other students were gathering around her, helping her up. Tears were in her eyes from the shock of the impact.

"Enough!" A booming voice rang throughout the room. Mr Galsworthy stepped towards the student. "Are you hurt?"

"My head hurts Mr Galsworthy." The student managed to say between sobs.

"Concussion. Take her to her room for the day. I'll let one of the teachers know so they can help her out." The students surrounding the girl helped her out of the room.

Diaz stood up straight. "Sir Galsworthy, it's not my fault. He was the one who collided into her. He should be forfeit from the match."

_Are you seriously more concerned with the outcome of the match than the girl who was hurt?_ I really wanted to just shout that out, but I doubted that would end well for me.

The next person to speak was Lilith. She stepped forward, placing her fist on her heart. "Mr Galsworthy, if I may, I don't agree with Lord Loaf's ruling. The act of running away from the blade caused this incident to begin with, which I believe to be unworthy of the-"

"Shut your filthy mouth whore!" Diaz spat in her face. "The only reason you exist today as a swordswoman is because your mother was passed around so often that she had more chance of being-"

A sword was drawn, being pointed at Diaz's throat, the wielder being Kimiko. "You speak another word, and I'll-"

"ENOUGH!"

Mr Galsworthy bellowed at the top of his lungs. Everyone froze in place, a look of terror on their faces. I felt my very soul shake.

"You will all go back to your daily routines now. The ruling is a draw, so the possession of the Night Shadow Blade will not change hands. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir!" The whole room said in unison. Instantly the room began to clear out, with students scrambling to get out. I saw Diaz give me a furious look before exiting the room. Soon enough, the only people in the room was me, Lord Grant, Lilith and Kimiko.

The adrenaline wore off and my fingers instantly felt like they had been impaled by a thousand shards of glass. I was shaking all over, the pain being overwhelming.

A gentle hand grabbed my wrists, forcing my hands palm up. "System Call, Generate Luminous Element." My fingers began to sooth, the pain dulling. I looked up at Lilith who had a sad smile on her face. "I had a similar incident when I was six. Got a sword stuck in a tree. I cried for ten minutes straight before my mother taught me this Sacred Art. It's the only one she had." A tear rolled down her cheek.

"Thank you." I flexed my fingers for a few seconds. "About what Diaz said…"

"It's true." Her smile shook. "I don't even know who my father is."

"I don't care if it's true. All I want to say is I'm glad you're here regardless." I glanced up at Kimiko. "I don't know anyone else who could keep her in line."

"Oh piss off." Kimiko rolled her eyes.

Lord Grant placed a hand on Lilith's shoulder. "The boy's right. It doesn't matter if you're here because you were born from a shit sty or in a noble house. You're here, and that's what's important. They don't accept just anyone you know? You're a swordswoman. And you have more honour than that idiot." He pointed at the door where Diaz had gone through a minute ago.

"I know. I'm just constantly reminded about what my mother did, not what I've done to get here." Lilith let go of my wrists.

"You would get along well with the Serlut's and Orthinanos's." Lord Grant smiled. "They're constantly kicked down due to their pasts." He patted his stomach. "I trust you all will have a good rest of the day. Boy, I will never forget the look on that prick's face when you threw him across the room."

A silly grin forced its way out of me. "I didn't mean to throw him that far."

"And you might want to remove that sword out of the wall." He went out the door, most likely to find some wine.

I pulled the Night Shadow Blade out of the wall, checking the edge for any dents. Fortunately, there didn't seem to be any._ You'll never chip at this rate._ I slid it into the sheath. Kimiko passed back Myne's Sword and I clipped it back onto my belt.

She looked troubled. "By the way, during the fight, you yelled that you've endured far worse than that. You can't have been on about the Vetal Tournament, because even I wasn't hurting you that much."

My eyes widened. I hadn't even realised I had said that, and immediately started racking my memory for something, anything related to my past. But only those words came to mind.

_Don't break._

"Sorry, still nothing." I shrugged.

Kimiko sighed. "You almost got my hopes up for a second there."

Lilith wrapped her arms around our necks, her more cheery side coming back. "Enough flirting, let's get going. I have somewhere we can go to celebrate. After all, it's not every day that we get to see a noble fly."

I laughed. "That's true."

I patted the Night Shadow Blade on my waist. _Thanks for putting up with that lock for so long._

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_**Don't break.**_

**If there were any words that Light has lived by in the past, it's these. He's endured a lot of hardships over the years, hence why he's developed an unbreakable will. And even with his memories gone, he still has the will to endure anything anyone throws at him.**

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I certainly had fun writing it, as you can probably tell from the fact that it's been published 5 days after the last one. Damn, I'm getting back into the groove XD I especially enjoyed writing Lilith this chapter. She's the child of a mother that was constantly passed from noble to noble, hence her distaste for them. Lord Grant is the only one she can trust, and as you can probably tell, that's due to him not being an ordinary noble.**

**Reviews:**

**blackbutterfly1313: Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed! I'm very happy that you've spotted no mistakes in the last chapter. Hopefully that'll continue with this one. And I'll try to keep it up.**

**Anyway, I need to plan out Chapter 11. That's going to be fun now that I kind of have a blank canvas for the next one. Can't wait to continue.**

**Until next time, Stay Cool.**


	12. 11: Graduation Time

**Hell has frozen over! Another update so soon afterwards XD It does feel great to make regular updates to a story. Though I should probably make an update to FB rewrite soon. Just been in a Nightshade mood.**

**See you at the bottom.**

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Chapter 11

Graduation Time

It had been a few days since the duel with Diaz. Fortunately, he hadn't said a word to me, which I was perfectly fine with. A few people had heard him bad mouthing me though, saying that I should've used the steel sword instead of the Night Shadow Blade. _Should've thought of that before being so cocky._

Meanwhile, I had another problem to deal with. Lord Grant's graduation present.

It was expected of Primary Trainee's to give their Elite Disciple a gift upon their graduation. The only issue is that I had no idea what to give him. He liked his drink, and he liked battle. But drink wouldn't last and battle was something we did every day.

It was the last day of rest before graduation. I wandered the streets of Centoria, looking in shop windows and on market stalls. There were some rather nice swords on display, but they couldn't match Lord Grant's family sword. I sighed as I walked past a glasswork shop called Clear as Day. The shining glass in the window was shaped into many different objects, such as ornaments, bottles and chandeliers.

Despite having no desire to have one of these fancy bits of furniture, I couldn't help but stare at one of the bottles. It seemed to be made of crystal with the way it was shaped, almost like a diamond. I looked at the text on the wall and saw they did custom pieces for a higher price. A weird thought passed through my head.

It was perfect for Lord Grant.

I went inside, a bell ringing as I opened the door. "Welcome!" A cheery middle-aged man stood behind the counter, beaming at me. "Ah, a trainee from the academy? Come on in, feel free to browse."

The inside of the shop was even more interesting. The amount of things this man had made using just glass was incredible. I was drawn to a pair of birds that were hanging from a small tree.

"Unfortunately, those aren't for sale." The man sighed. "Young boy ordered them a year ago, paid for them upfront. He never came back for them, so I keep them on display." He waved his hand towards the next shelf. "Those are all for sale however."

It was there where I spotted what I wanted. A glass sword sat on the upper shelf. I pushed myself onto my toes to reach it, bringing it down carefully. I took it over to the counter. "I was hoping for a custom piece similar to this."

"Ah, yes, graduation is coming up isn't it?" The man nodded. "So what do you need?"

"A hollow version of this sword with some kind of stand. Just a bit smaller than this, and a hole in the pommel to place a cork in." I hoped that description was enough.

The man nodded, picking up the glass sword and holding it tip down. "Like a bottle yes?" I nodded. "The stand and cross guard would have to be solid so all the liquid can come out. So maybe a thicker blade to compensate." He nodded. "I can certainly make this. It'll be ready by this evening."

"How much?"

"1,000 Shia."

I gulped, realising how expensive it was. _Maybe I can get a bottle from Lord Grant's room to fill it._ I shrugged, reaching into my pocket and counting out the ten golden coins. My coin bag was feeling rather light now.

"I'll have it delivered to your academy. What's your name?"

"Light"

"Alright then. Thank you for your business."

I walked outside and wandered the streets for a bit, no direction in mind. With Lord Grant's graduation present out of the way, I had little to do. Days of rest prevented training, so I couldn't go to a secluded area to train. Eventually I found myself on a hill under the shade of a tree, wondering how I had even gotten there.

I sat under the shade and unsheathed my sword, cleaning the blade using my jacket sleeve. The blade still remained as perfect as it was when I got it, not a single scratch on it. I opened the Stacia Window on the blade, finding the blade's Life was full. _I swear when I got you, you were damaged somewhat._ I shook my head, checking my own Stacia Window. My own Object Control Authority was now at 43, another increase since the last time I checked. It was strange how quickly this seemed to go up just from swinging my blade around and duelling.

I closed both windows and lay down, raising my arms behind me so I could rest my head. Small rays of light filtered through the leaves. It was peaceful up here.

I woke up with a start, the lightning crackling above me. _This is the third lightning storm this year…_ I pulled my jacket over my head as the rain began to pour. I ran towards the academy, taking small breaks from the rain. I got back in my dorm, shaking the rainwater from my jacket and putting it on the back of a chair to let it dry.

Everyone else seemed to be out still, so I took the time to write in my journal. I saw the entry about Myne and I smiled sadly at it. Turning over the page, I had one detailing my meal with Kimiko and Lilith. The next was my duel with Diaz. It hit me how much had actually happened in the last few weeks. My entries before those ones were mainly about my training, slowly getting shorter as I lost interest in writing about it.

A knock on the door grabbed my attention. I went over and opened it, seeing a student standing there with a paper bag. "Package from Clear as Day?"

I nodded. "Thank you." I took the package from them. I debated for a moment before passing them two silver coins. They looked delighted, running down the corridor. _And I wonder why I have no money._ I chuckled to myself before heading back inside, placing the package on the desk.

The old man certainly did a great job. The ornament was about a metre in height. The base was solid glass, looking like a pile of rocks. In the centre of the pile, a sword was sticking out. In the pommel sat a cork ready. What was really surprising was the inside of the sword was already filled with a red liquid. Hayamono berries judging by the smell. Inside the package was a note.

'I took the curtesy of filling the bottle for you. Hope the Elite Disciple enjoys.'

_I wondered why it was overpriced._ I wrapped the ornament up again, placing it in a drawer where my clothes were kept to keep it safe.

_Damn, in two days, it'll be a long time until I see Lord Grant and Lilith again._

Sure enough, that day came soon.

On the final day before the tournament, there was no cleaning in the Swordscraft Academy, as students got ready to travel to Norlangarth's Sword Mastery Academy for the final exams. Not all students went, but you were kind of forced if you were a Primary Trainee to support your Elite Disciple.

I packed the glass ornament ready and tried to restore some order to my hair, very unsuccessfully. I pulled on my jacket and headed outside to find Lord Grant waiting for me. "Come on my boy, we've got a tournament to get to!"

We got into a carriage that was waiting by the gates. To my surprise, Lord Grant wasn't the overly cheery self he usually was. Instead, he was dead serious. And sober. Come to think of it, I hadn't seen him drink for a few days.

Almost like he knew I had noticed this, he grinned at me. "Can't be drunk today. I need to be in top form." He patted his family sword. "After all, I need to do my family proud, and you too my boy."

I smiled. "You don't have to make me proud sir. It was an honour being taught by you."

He let out a bellowing laugh. "Save that for the goodbye." He looked out the window. "I wonder how I'll do against Jade. She's skilled, but I'm sure I can beat her if I tried. It's just that I don't really want to. Being beaten in this is kind of the sign to give up in the Unification Tournament." He shrugged. "But I guess if she beat me here and then I beat her in the Tournament, that would crush her more. And besides, friends don't mean anything in a fight! You and little Kimiko know that all too well."

I nodded. "Don't hold back sir."

"Well now that you've told me not to, then I have no choice."

A minute of silence passed before the carriage stopped. Lord Grant got out and stretched his arms. I stepped out to see the Sword Mastery Academy. "Not going to lie, I was expecting it to be at least a bit different from our academy."

"It's got a garden around the back where students can grow flowers."

"That's…that's not much of a difference." I shook my head.

The Sword Mastery Academy looked extremely similar to the Swordscraft Academy. The main addition was the massive hall attached to the side where the tournament was taking place. Other students were walking around the grounds, some of them looking at Lord Grant with confusion and awe. The only difference in their uniform was instead of a small rapier design on the neckpiece, there was a sword pointing downwards.

"Right then my boy, you should head to the training hall. I need to stretch my legs." For the first time ever, I could see the nervous excitement getting to him.

I bowed. "I'll see you later sir." I headed towards the hall.

As soon as I got to the entrance, a hand went in front of me. A stern looking woman with dark brown hair put out a hand. "Norlangarth rules state that no swords are carried unless being used for training or duels."

A pit grew in my stomach. "Ah, okay…" I unbuckled the sheaths on my belt, hesitating before passing the Night Shadow Blade and Myne's Sword to her. She held the purple sword in both hands, eyebrow raised in confusion.

"Name?"

"Light."

"Find me afterwards and I'll give you them back." She let me past.

It felt weird not having my blades on my waist, but if it was against their school rules, then I couldn't complain. The academies already were strange, how they worked separately all the time except this time of year.

I walked up the steps to the seats above the hall. The seats went all the way around the hall in a stair pattern, giving everyone a clear view of the middle, which was a simple wooden floor.

I moved around until I found a spot that was away from everyone else. A few minutes, I was joined by Kimiko looking fed up. "God, talk about a drama queen. 'What if I trip and make myself look like an idiot?' Honestly."

I laughed. "In a year, that'll be you."

"At least I'm confident enough to know I won't trip over my own feet." She rolled her eyes. "Look on the bright side though, at least you won't be able to knock someone flying down there."

"Oh haha."

Someone came out and replaced a board that was hanging on the wall with a brand new one, with the names of the Elite Disciples on it. I let out a sigh of relief as I saw Lord Grant and Lilith's names were on opposite sides of the board, which meant they wouldn't meet until the final three.

Due to having twelve Elite Disciples, the finale worked differently than you might expect for us. The final three would battle each other in a normal two-person duel. Should one Disciple win both battles, they graduate top. Otherwise, it went down to time. Kimiko once complained that we should've had sixteen Disciples, and once upon a time that was the case, but apparently that made it too easy for people to become a Disciple.

Soon enough though, the first match was started. I leaned back, ready to watch. Kimiko rested her head on her lap. "Tell me when Lilith is duelling."

"Will do."

_Maybe I should've brought something to eat…_

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**Rather slow chapter this time, because next one is going to be rather action packed as you finally get to see Lord Grant at his best. Remember that he's ranked 4th when he's drunk? Well, now he's sober. And he has a reason to win. Poor Lilith XD Can't wait to get that duel done.**

**Reviews:**

**blackbutterfly1313: Thanks again. Glad last chapter was an improvement. The duel was supposed to feel short, like a lot of the fights in Alicization. The Loafian style is about wearing your opponent down through the power behind the strike, which is hopefully what came across in that fight. And it wasn't actually Light remembering something. It's not a memory. Just a little tease for you ;)**

**Right, up next I want to do a chapter of FB rewrite. So it won't be as fast this time. But hope you all enjoyed. Thanks for reading.**

**And as always, until next time, Stay Cool.**


	13. 12: Sword Dance

**So about focusing on FB Rewrite. I don't know why, I just really enjoy writing Nightshade at the moment. It's nice to know that people are enjoying these characters I've made. It might inspire me to get on with No Land Beyond at some point XD**

**But I'll see you at the bottom.**

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Chapter 12

Sword Dance

Lord Grant smirked as he saw his opponent rush in. He ducked under the strike, which was impressively low down for a guy of his size, before slamming his sword into his opponent's open gut.

"That's the match!" The stern looking woman called the match declaring Lord Grant the winner. He bowed to the crowd before heading to the bench. The woman gave him some words before the next match started, probably about making sure his blade stopped short, but I knew he wouldn't take them to heart.

I hadn't seen him do anything out of the ordinary, but it was certainly working. Sure, he was focusing more on his opponent than normal, but if he kept this up, he'd end up graduating in the same place he's in anyway. And to qualify for the Four Empires Unity Tournament, you had to be in the top 3 of the Academy.

We were on the second round already. Both Lord Grant and Lilith were still in the running. There were some very clear victors and some close matches. There was one other competitor that was worth watching though, and that was Zenith. He was ranked second in our Academy, but I hadn't really heard much about him, mainly because he was out in the city at every possibility and stuck to himself.

Kimiko jumped as she woke up. "What's happening? Who's won?"

"It's only the second round, no one's won yet."

"I told you to wake me when Lilith is fighting."

"It isn't much of a fight when it's over in two hits." I smiled, remember Lilith rolling over the poor guy's back, giving her an open strike.

"Hmm…fine." She yawned, rubbing her eyes. "Well, she'll be up soon."

"With Silph? That's not a match, that's a one-sided massacre."

"Wait, he won? How?"

"Garret tripped over his own feet."

Kimiko rolled her eyes. "Typical."

_This is going to be fun._

I smiled to myself, brushing the wooden training sword down with a cloth. I could see Light talking with Kimiko up the top. I knew that my last performance wasn't exactly the best, but I didn't want to overexert myself before I had to. My next match however might make me sweat a little.

A second ranked noble by the name of Hammel. He was the poster boy of a noble. Cocky, arrogant, and the skills to back it up. He typically used a curved sword, which he had a wooden version especially made for training. Something that threw off a lot of his opponents was that he was left-handed. It would be a tough bout, but I knew I could beat him.

I had to. Otherwise I would've been a pretty terrible teacher.

_Time to show Light that I'm actually worthy to be his teacher._

My name was called and I got out off the bench. I brushed my orange coat down and ran my fingers through my hair, pushing it backwards. Hammel stood opposite me, twirling his sword around on his finger, that cocky attitude shining through. "Ah, Sept Grant. I remember that you used to be taller."

"You wound me with your originality." I readied my blade, the excitement in my gut building.

Hammel laughed. "I'll be happy to wound you further."

"Please, keep these up. You might kill me on the inside before you even land a strike."

"Enough." Ms. Azurica said firmly. "The match between Elite Disciple Hammel and Elite Disciple Grant shall now begin. We shall be attempting stop short." She glanced at me, as if she knew I was already planning to hit this guy with my strike.

Ms. Azurica raised her hand, ready to start the match. Hammel held his blade behind him, the sword glowing blue. I knew this move. It was a two hit combo his family called the Hurtling Slash.

_Well then, let me show you some of my family technique._

As soon as Ms. Azurica's hand dropped, I turned my back to Hammel. He was already soaring towards me, but I knew the timing of his strike well. Two seconds between the start of the Art and the end.

In the first second, I had my blade down by my waist. My sword started to glow red. I could hear him right behind me, blade coming in from the right.

In the next second, my feet swivelled around, my feet squeaking against the wooden floor as they came around in a perfect curve, and my sword coming around to my front. I put all my power into this strike. The blue glow was in my face as my sword connected with his.

My muscles in my arms flexed as they held back the recoil from the strike. I knew I couldn't just throw off his attack, as he had a second strike, and I wouldn't be able to hold it. Luckily, Storm Wave was already a powerful counter strike, and combined with my strength, it would take a few seconds for Hammel to break through. That's a few seconds where I could end this lock on my terms.

"_Don't hold back sir."_

I smiled as Light's words echoed in my head. I felt a sudden surge of energy in my legs and I used that to duck down and used that energy to push his blade up. It made him stumble back a few feet, his blade glow fading away. I dug my feet into the wooden floor and launched myself forward. Hammel tried to bring his second strike into play, but it was already too late, and the look of fear that I saw on his face as he realised that was priceless. My blade was at his throat and I raised my hand to grab his wrist, stopping his strike in its path.

"That's the match!"

I drew my sword back, resisting the temptation to release the energy behind my blade and send Hammel flying. I rested the blade on my shoulder.

"What the hell was up with your eyes!?" Hammel yelled.

I blinked a few times and shrugged. "Nothing that effected the outcome of that match. By the way, you might want to check your pants." I chuckled to myself as I headed back to the bench.

Now that is something I had never seen before.

During training, Lord Grant had never used an Art on me before. He had said he was a user of the Baltio Style, but he never showed me a single skill. Whatever that skill was, it was something he was extremely proficient with it since he broke through a skill with it. And the speed at which he performed it at was incredible.

"You know, I did question why he was ranked fourth, and I was kind of expecting Lilith to run through him whenever I saw him duelling. He always seemed to never take anything seriously. But now, I'm not so sure." Kimiko actually looked worried.

"That's kind of the illusion he wanted to put up. It can break the spirit of an opponent if someone you think is a pushover is suddenly kicking your ass." I nodded. It had hit me that he never went full out during training, and I was having it easy. If he wanted, Lord Grant could've demolished me.

_Now that's the face I wanted to see on him._

One of utter shock. During my first match, I never had the opportunity to go full out. But against Hammel, I finally did. And I was proud that I could make Light look like that. Kimiko beside him looked worried, and I couldn't blame her. It was going to be Jade at the end of my sword next.

The next few match between Zenith and Apex was over pretty quickly, which surprised me. Apex was supposed to be the Rank 1, the best of our Academy, but he was knocked down pretty quickly. Then again, he was still recovering from a leg injury he suffered while out in Centoria. I knew he wasn't ready for a battle, but he still insisted in trying. The fact that he made it to the second round was a miracle to begin with.

But now it was time for the final rounds.

And this was when I needed to focus.

Jade was a friend, and it was always hard to fight a friend. She was the sister I always wanted but never had. I'm glad to have met her, and it pains me now to have to knock her back down. I knew it would be better to do that now rather than give her false hope that she can beat me in the Four Empire Unity Tournament. After all, it was my dream since a kid to become a knight in shining armour. The fairy tales I heard of proud knights, from Bercouli to Deusolbert. Both of them fighting the Dark Territory, looking dragons in the eye with no fear, being shining heroes to ordinary folks.

Our names were called and I stepped forwards. Jade was looking worried, but I could sense her determination hidden beneath that. It hit me that I was rather unfamiliar with her style. She was using a style exclusive to her, which she called the Common Westian Style. Something she developed by swinging at trees. I looked at the wooden training sword in my hand. _Time for the trees to hit back._ I chuckled to myself at that little joke.

"The match between Elite Disciple Jade and Elite Disciple Grant will now begin!" Ms. Azurica nodded to both of us. We bowed. I got into my stance ready. She took a stance that I had never seen before. She had one arm extended towards me, her sword extended behind her, and her knees bent.

I took a deep breath. This was definitely going be fun.

The hand dropped and Jade jumped towards me, bringing her sword down in an overhead arc. The strike was telegraphed really well, almost too much. I brought my sword up to meet her sword, blocking the strike. "Come on, if you're going to be that obvious, I'll-" A small smile appeared on her face as her body twisted and she launched a kick at my head. The height on her jump was so impressive, it almost made me forget to block it. I raised my hand to stop her foot in its tracks.

I held her foot in my grasp, keeping her in place as I brought my arm back for a swing. Suddenly I found myself on the ground, the world spinning. During my swing, she had twisted her body to kick me with her other foot, sending us both straight onto the ground. I got up as soon as possible, black dots dancing in front of my eyes. I managed to regain focus in time to see the sword coming straight at my face. I ducked under it, hearing the blade coming back around for another strike. I activated Storm Wave, bringing myself around to lock blades with her.

Jade smiled slightly from the other side of the lock. "You criticise your pupil for telegraphing his moves, but that swing back there was extremely slow Grant."

"Says the swordswoman who started this with the easiest swing to block." I grinned. That excitement in my gut was growing. "Martial arts eh? You've been keeping that a close secret until now."

"Keep your best cards close to your chest."

"Agreed."

I broke the lock, my feet creating a loud echo throughout the hall. Jade was getting into another stance, her blade beginning to glow white. I took a deep breath. I didn't know if I could replicate this, but it was by far the greatest skill I knew.

_Thank you for teaching this to me Light._

I extended my left leg in front of me, bending my right leg. I had my blade parallel to the ground and at chin height, pointing at Jade. Her eyes widened slightly as she recognised the skill. My blade glowed gold, and we both unleashed our skills at the same time. I brought my sword around the front, aiming at her gut.

Jade unleashed a six-hit skill. The first five hits were fast jabs that were focused on my sword. My concentration was broken when the top half of my sword suddenly flew off into the crowd. Then pain came as I felt the tip of a sword fall onto my shoulder. I could feel the bone crack underneath the skin. At the same time, the momentum from the Art was still carrying me forwards, and I ended up falling onto Jade, the broken part of my sword digging into her stomach. We both landed on the ground, the wood not exactly offering a soft landing for us.

The crowd were cheering, but it was drowned out for me, as my shoulder was exploding with pain. I looked over at Jade who was rolling around on the ground, clutching her stomach. I gripped my shoulder tight, biting my inner cheek to focus on something other than the broken bone, but to no avail.

Ms. Azurica crouched down in front of me. "Stay still." She took out some sort of round ball, breaking it between her forefinger and thumb. She began muttering a Sacred Art, and almost instantly the pain dulled. "That won't have healed properly, but the pain should go soon. Unfortunately, you're in no condition to fight in the next round."

"That's fine. It was a great match to finish on."

Ms. Azurica went to check on Jade. I clutched my shoulder, feeling it throbbing. I looked up at Light who was smiling.

_Well then my boy, I've hopefully not let you down, even if I didn't win._

Kimiko had gone down to check on Lilith. I was going to see Lord Grant when he got out of the arena, as I could tell that he wasn't going to be able to participate in the next round with Zenith. I walked down the steps on the arena towards the doors to the central duelling area was. Soon enough, Lord Grant came out, clutching his shoulder. As soon as I saw him, a stupid grin forced its way onto my face.

Lord Grant spread his arms as far as he was able to. "Well my boy, how was that?"

"Incredible sir."

He patted my shoulder with his good hand and led me outside. "She won the match. I gave it to her, as she did break my sword. And she'll likely be fit enough to take on Zenith in a few minutes. It was lucky that I didn't cut her stomach."

I nodded. "I'll go and see her later. By the way, how did you use that Art?"

He laughed. "Honestly, I learned from watching you. It's simple, but an effective skill. I'm amazed you came up with that by yourself, though I'm not surprised."

I felt my cheeks getting warm. It was then I remembered the package inside my jacket. "Speaking of surprises sir…" I brought the bag out. "Here."

He raised an eyebrow, reaching into the bag. The moment he brought it out, I knew I had picked the right gift. His eyes lit up, his face splitting into a huge grin. "Wow…that's…thank you my boy." Tears formed in the corners of his eyes. "Light, it has been a privilege to be your mentor."

"Thank you for taking me as your page sir." I bowed.

He laughed. "The page you take in will be lucky to have you."

I shuddered. "I don't know sir, I'm not really the teaching type."

"You'll be fine my boy."

We both looked at the garden, where a bunch of flowers were blooming. The wind picked up for a second, which lifted some of the dead petals up and towards the Central Cathedral, which stood tall over everything.

I realised that I was one step closer to my ultimate goal; finding what my place in this world was.

_A few weeks have gone by. Lilith had graduated second after her injuries from her duel with Lord Grant caused her to lose to Zenith. Eventually during the Four Empire Unity Tournament, Zenith went on to take first place in a brutal match against a Disciple of the Eastern Empire Academy._

_On my side of things, during the Graduation Exams, I was Rank 8, placed so low because of my inability to cast a single Sacred Art. Luckily, the person I was sharing the dorm with was Kimiko, who was Rank 7, something she constantly reminded me of the first few days after we graduated from being Primary Trainees. She soon got bored of it._

I finished writing the journal entry, letting it rest on the table as I heard a knock on the door. "Hey Light, we're going to see the Primary Trainees now. You know what Mr Galsworthy is like when you're late to things like this."

"Yeah, I'm coming." I blew on the ink to help it dry a little faster. I closed the journal and grabbed the royal purple jacket that was on the back of my chair.

END OF PART 1

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**Yep, that was Part 1. I think it'll be good to have this be the end of the start of Light's journey. Now we're going into the part where he's not necessarily learning stuff. He's refining himself so to speak, ready for the upcoming battles. Though this next part will be focusing a lot more on his relationships with other characters, if that hasn't been focused on enough already XD**

**I hope you liked the shift in perspective. As we'll be saying goodbye to Lord Grant for a long time, I wanted to give him some spotlight. I've really enjoyed writing him, and will miss him. I hope you all will as well. May he drink deep from his sword bottle.**

**Reviews:**

**blackbutterfly1313: Thanks again for reviewing. I would love to add more environmental details, and hopefully I'll be able to do that when we move into Part 2. Unfortunately for this chapter, I didn't have much in terms of describing the environment, but I hope you liked the little flower scene at the end there. Blooming flower anyone XD**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed Part 1 of Alicization Nightshade. It's been an absolute blast so far, and I hope to keep improving as we go along.**

**Thank you everyone. And as always, Stay Cool.**


	14. 13: Luna

**You know, I don't think I've ever uploaded a new chapter 1 day after the last. That's new. Sorry to anyone looking forward to FB Rewrite. I'm just enjoying writing Nightshade so much, as you can probably tell by the fact that I'm uploading chapters so quickly. Heck, after this, I'm probably going to go straight to writing Chapter 14.**

**Anyway, see you at the bottom as per usual.**

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Chapter 13

Luna

I walked briskly through the carpeted halls of the Elite Dorms, sometimes hearing someone behind the door panicking that they were late. I could see some people considering bending the rule that said to not run unless it's an emergency. To be fair, having Mr Galsworthy glare at you with silent anger felt like an emergency to avoid.

Outside, the leaves were back on the trees and the grass was green, as Spring was in full bloom. There was still a chill in the air from Winter, but it wasn't unbearable like a couple of weeks ago. For April, it was surprising to see the sun out. Well, as out as peaking around the Central Cathedral was. I was expecting it to be raining. You know, April Showers and everything.

I headed to the training halls, where students were piling in. Mr Galsworthy looked up from his register as I approached, looking up at the sun. "You're lucky. You're not late."

"I'm not always late sir." I chuckled nervously.

"No, only most of the time."

I walked past him into the hall, where I saw Kimiko waiting. She was wearing a crimson red uniform, a new sword strapped to her belt. It was a sword that she had made herself down at the forge, made from steel melted from a Dark Knight's armour and rubies. Or that was the story she told me.

She looked up as I approached and sighed in disappointment. "Shame."

"Can't hold it over me today." I patted her on the shoulder as I went past.

We walked into the hall where most of the other Elite Disciples were waiting. I could see Diaz sitting in the corner with his white and gold uniform, looking at the trainees. We immediately made our way to the opposite side to where he was.

"I don't recognise anyone from home." Kimiko looked disappointed as she looked at the Trainees, resting her chin on her hand. "Suppose I could wait until the end, see who's left. Never really thought about teaching."

"Well you taught Lilith some stuff." I pointed out.

"That was just part of training."

"Still counts."

"I suppose…"

Mr Galsworthy cleared his throat. "Now you're all here except for Yun, who is late-" The door burst open and Yun walked, sweat shining on his forehead. "Now that you're all here, we can begin." He scribbled something in his register and then let it hang at his side. "You've been in the position of these Primary Trainees, so you should understand how they're feeling. You will be teaching them throughout the year, and in return, they will assist you in whatever you need. As per custom, they will duel each other, and you will pick who you wish to teach."

Mr Galsworthy walked along the line of Trainees, picking two from the line. The others backed off, allowing space for the two to duel.

I'll be honest, most of the Trainees were sloppy. Very sloppy. Their swings were either way too telegraphed, or they were overswinging, or both. It would be very easy for their opponent to take them out by just watching them, but as they were falling into the same trap, it was more who could land the first real hit rather than who was better. There were a few stand outs though. A boy with extremely bushy hair, who had rock solid defence. A tall boy with short straw-coloured hair who had power behind his swings. A girl with maroon hair that rested just above her neckline who was very precise with her attacks. And finally, a boy who was short and bald, and despite being nervous, was the most promising out of everyone, keeping a strong stance and strikes that were calculated and swung in perfect arcs that didn't break his guard.

The higher Ranked Disciples got priority over who they got to teach, so instantly a couple of the Trainees were picked. I leaned forwards, resting my head on my hands, thinking about who I would want to teach. Of course, it would be difficult to train someone who was constantly overswinging. I saw Diaz talking with the nervous boy, which disappointed me, as I wouldn't have minded training him. Slowly, the Trainees were standing alongside an Elite Disciple.

Kimiko nudged me. "You found someone yet?"

"Not really." I looked at the remaining Trainees. "You?"

"I'll just go with who's left."

"Fair enough." My eyes stopped on the girl with maroon hair. She was leaning against the wall, twirling her blade in the air. She looked bored, looking around as Elite Disciples walked past her in favour of other Trainees. "What's her name?"

Kimiko made a noise of disgust. "That Luna Regal. She's from a first ranked noble family, and apparently got the attitude of one. She acts superior to everyone." She raised an eyebrow at me. "You're not thinking of teaching her, are you?"

"Maybe." I saw another Trainee get picked by another Elite Disciple. "My options are running out, and she's shown some promise. Besides, it might keep the year entertaining."

"You're starting to sound like Lord Grant."

I chuckled. She had a point. "He's rubbed off on me."

Kimiko sighed as she stretched her arms upwards. "Well, good luck then."

I stood up and begun walking over to her. Luna turned to look at me as I approached, rolling her eyes. "Finally…" She certainly had an undertone of superiority.

"It's Luna right?"

She stood up straight, sheathing her sword on her belt. "Yep, Luna Regal."

"I'm Light."

She stifled a laugh. "That's certainly a strange name. I was named after the Goddess Lunaria. What were you named after?"

"I don't know. I've forgotten."

She burst out laughing. "You remember your name, but not why you were named it? Gods you're weird." She looked me up and down for a few seconds. "Okay then Light, you'll do."

I raised an eyebrow. "You do know that I can still walk away right?"

"You've given me a good laugh. That's better than what these other dolts have done. So, you're stuck with me now." She grabbed my arm.

I looked over at Kimiko, and she was giving me this 'I told you so' look. I sighed mentally, deciding to roll with it.

As the only thing we had to do that day was meet our Trainee, the next day came around pretty quickly. I woke up, hearing Kimiko in the living quarters rummaging through a book. I rubbed my eyes, sitting up. Looking out the small window in my room, I could see it was late morning.

Being an Elite Disciple certainly had its perks. For starters, our room was no longer shared, which meant I didn't have to worry about anyone grabbing my stuff by accident and claiming it's theirs. The mahogany desk I had was rather spacious, allowing me to have my journal open there ready to be written in. The oak chair was padded and stable, which was better than the one that was threatening to fall apart back in the Trainee Dorms. And getting out of bed to feel a carpet under your feet was something I never realised was something I was missing.

I grabbed my trousers and jacket and pulled them on. For some reason, purple was a colour I was drawn to. It could've been the dream I had when I was in the bloody forest. I shuddered as I remembered it. But the scale armour was neat. To everyone else, because I couldn't explain the dream without raising red flags, I just said I liked purple.

I grabbed a book from the bookshelf that was at the foot of my bed and headed into the living area. It was a large room with a huge window on the back wall. Two doors on opposite walls that led to mine and Kimiko's rooms, and then a set of double doors leading out to the corridor. Our dorm was painted with white paint on the top half and a dark red on the bottom, separated by a golden strip of wallpaper. As for furniture, we had two sofas on each side of a large oval table that was covered by a red cloth. A tall bookshelf sat in the back-right corner, though neither of us had books on it as we had one in our rooms, so we used it to store our swords. A large potted plant was in the opposite corner which Kimiko kept watered. The floor was carpeted by a huge rug that took up most of the room. And lastly, a painting of the Three Goddesses of Underworld hung on the wall next to Kimiko's door.

I lay down on the free sofa, opening on a random page. We didn't have anything to do for the day, as training was scheduled for tomorrow. Luna was supposed to come round for cleaning later, but other than that, it was basically a day of rest. Today was when the Trainees were supposed to get used to the grounds, so Elite Disciples had nothing to do.

Kimiko sighed as she flipped through her book. "What are you reading?"

"Different sword styles. I want to find out what style Luna uses so I can see if I can help her improve." I flicked past High Norkian. "You?"

"Ores and minerals. I like to look at the pictures."

"You're not happy with the sword you have?"

"No, it's fine. Just that some of these ores are nice to look at." She pointed the book at me. "Like, look at this. Orichalcum. It's apparently really difficult to shape, but if you can, the blade is amazing. Almost on par with a Divine Object."

"That's neat." The ore looked like a black rock to me.

"If you ever forged a sword, you'd understand." She went back to the book.

I smiled, looking at the bookshelf where Myne's Sword sat. "I'd rather leave that to the professionals." I turned the page to see the Fencing Stance. It was mainly a style for rapiers. The style was focused on precision, just like Luna's was. "Do you know if Luna uses a rapier?"

"Why would I know that?"

"Well you seemed to know a lot about her yesterday."

Kimiko shook her head. "All I know is that her family is unpleasant, and she's apparently one of the worst. Though you seemed to get on with her well."

"So far she's been fine. Definitely got that superiority that you were talking about. What about your page?"

"Becchi? He's alright. Very quiet though." A few seconds of silence passed. Kimiko closed her book, grabbing her boots and pulling them on. "I'm going to head outside to the gardens. Might as well get some exercise." She put her book down on the table and headed towards the door. "If Becchi gets here before I do, tell him that he can start cleaning straight away. I wouldn't want to hold him up by being late."

"Will do."

The door closed, and I leaned back, letting out a sigh of frustration.

Since getting to the Academy, I didn't have a dull day. Whether it was going out to Centoria, training, walking around the grounds, or hanging out with Lord Grant or Kimiko. But the last few weeks had changed that. Now I had taken a step closer to my goal, there wasn't anything to do. I had explored the grounds, I couldn't go to Centoria as it wasn't officially a day of rest, training wasn't today, and now Lord Grant was gone.

_God I wish it was more exciting._

A knock came from the door. I jumped up and walked over there quickly. I opened the door to see Luna standing there. "Elite Disciple Light, I've come to clean."

I blinked a few times, looking back at the window. "It's still early."

"I have an errand to run this afternoon for my father, and as I have to perform my duties as a page, I decided it would be best to come early rather than miss it. I wouldn't expect you to understand."

"Must be an important errand to have to clean so early." I wasn't convinced this was the full story. A simple errand would take an hour at most. When I was attending to Lord Grant, sometimes I would have to head out early due to an important task, but I was always was back in time to finish cleaning.

Luna just nodded. "Of course. It's noble business, so I wouldn't expect you to understand."

I sighed. "Alright then. As long as it doesn't become a habit I suppose."

Luna smiled, moving past me into the room. "Thank you Elite Disciple Light. It should be a one off, but I will inform you in advance should it happen again."

_It shouldn't be happening again…_ I didn't say it out loud. I knew that there would be some nobles who would choose to interpret that as disrespect. And all higher laws, including judicial authority, took precedence over the Academy rules. Certainly someone like Diaz would take advantage. "In the future, try and schedule errands to be during your free time."

"Of course Elite Disciple Light." She performed an overexaggerated salute. "Should I start in here or in your room?"

"Start in here. There shouldn't be much mess in here or in my room, so it shouldn't take long to clean both." I sat down on the sofa, grabbing my book. Luna began pacing around the room, but I mostly ignored her. I frowned as I looked through the Fencing Style. It was a much more defensive style, but when I was watching Luna, she was constantly on the offensive, striking rapidly, which didn't fit the Style at all. But it was the closest I could find to her Style.

I closed the book and sighed. "If you're done with that, I can put it away." Luna held her hand out to me.

"Thanks. I have a bookshelf in my room." I gave her the book.

"Okay." She took the book off me. A few seconds later, I heard a clang. Looking, I saw Luna had dropped both mine and Kimiko's book in the bin.

"What are you doing?" I got up and grabbed the two books, dusting them off. "I said that there was a bookshelf in my room."

"One of the pages is slightly worn, so I deemed it better to throw it away. I'll apply for a new one later." She looked at me with puppy dog eyes, attempting to make it seem like an innocent mistake.

"I need this to help you." I grimaced as I felt something wet on the back cover.

Luna laughed. "Help me? With all due respect, I'm pretty much the best I can be. This Trainee thing is more of a formality for me."

I bit my tongue to stop myself from just speaking my mind. "Well, tomorrow you can show me that you are indeed the best you can be."

"Of course Elite Disciple Light. I'll look forward to it." She put on a sweet smile. "Now, I must get on with the cleaning. Otherwise I'll be late."

I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. "Please ask me before throwing things away."

"Yes Elite Disciple Light!" Luna did her salute again.

_Gods, Kimiko was right. Hopefully things will get more bearable tomorrow during training…_

* * *

**You all know spoilt brats right? There's always one. Well that's Luna. I'm going to really enjoy focusing on her over the next few chapters, and Light's dynamic with her. After all, a commoner trying to teach a first ranked noble anything? How absurd XD ****Luna's been a character I've been looking forward to writing for a while since I designed her. Fun Fact: you can actually see the character I took her appearance from in Episode 8 of Alicization. During the fight between Volo and Sortiliena, there's a girl with maroon hair sat next to Kirito and Eugeo. And the boy sat with them is Becchi.**

**Either way, Light's got his work cut out for him. It's going to be nice writing a character that acts sweet and innocent, but is actually a sneaky devil on the inside. Diaz is just a dick, but Luna is a special kind of trouble.**

**Reviews:**

**blackbutterfly1313: Glad the perspective shift was nice. I'm going to try and keep the perspectives fixed for a chapter from now on, so from beginning to end, there's a constant point of focus. And who knows if he'll survive. I'm not telling XD**

**Anyway, hopefully the quality didn't slip just because I've done this in one day. Usually this is all done over the course of a week, but this time, it just all came at once, which I'm happy with. And I'll try to continue with this momentum for as long as it lasts.**

**And as always, until next time, Stay Cool.**


	15. 14: Noble Spirit

**Welp, time to get the ball rolling with Luna. Hope you enjoy this. I put a lot of focus on the swordplay in this one.**

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Chapter 14

Noble Spirit

I yawned as I walked into the training hall. The sun was still low, so the room was lit in a dull orange light shining through the window. The warmth felt soft, and almost made me want to fall back to sleep.

Thanks to training with Lord Grant, I had slowly been getting used to early mornings, mostly to avoid the water. Luna wasn't due for another few minutes, so I grabbed one of the training sword and began stretching to warm up. After finishing the stretches, I began doing some light swings to get my muscles warmed up.

It was at this point when the doubt hit me. I just didn't feel qualified to teach someone. Lord Grant was powerful, but he was always willing to push that to the side to allow me to catch up. And while I wasn't taught by her, Lilith was kind and gentle, the perfect mentor it would seem. I honestly didn't know if I could live up to their standards.

A loud creaking noise came from the entrance and I saw Luna walking in, yawning. She walked up to me and saluted. "Elite Disciple Light, I have come to commence training, as unnecessary as it is."

I bit my tongue to stop myself from saying anything. "Right then." I passed her a training sword. "Feel free to warm up before we start."

Luna looked at me like I had spoken a foreign language. "Warm…up?"

"Yeah, like stretching and practise swings. So you don't get cramps and stiff muscles tomorrow."

A look of disgust passed over her face. "Warming up is for children. A swordswoman should be able to be ready for battle whenever possible."

"And you're still a child. So you need to warm up."

I had obviously struck a nerve, as Luna shot me a glare before turning her back to me and started stretching.

_I certainly have my work cut out for me._ I twirled the training sword in my hand as I waited. She wasn't really trying to stretch, but honestly, I didn't want to make her more angry. I wanted to see the best she could be, and that was impossible if she was fighting out of frustration.

Soon, she turned back to me, sword at the ready. "Is that enough Elite Disciple?"

"If you think so." I sighed. "So basically now, come at me with everything you've got. I want to see what you can do, and then we can work from there."

"Sure, whatever you say." Luna muttered the last part, but I still could pick it up. She got into a stance. Her right foot in front, left just behind it and at a forty-five-degree angle. Her sword was held in front of her, pointed straight at me. Exactly like the Fencing Style I had seen in the book. "I'm guessing it's a stop short match?"

I shrugged. "Well I'll be going for stop short. But if you feel like you'll be holding yourself back, then hit me." I got into my stance ready.

A smile appeared on Luna's face. "That stance is so weird. You commoners never cease to amaze me."

"I can teach you it if you want."

"No, my style will easily break through yours." Luna's left foot shot back, her right knee bending. She launched herself at me, drawing her sword back. All the time, the tip was pointed right at me.

I instantly saw the opening and took it.

The tip of her sword was a few inches away, and I swung my sword upwards. Her blade was sent flying into the air, twirling several times before landing with a clunk on the polished floor. I wrapped my arm around Luna's waist to stop her from falling over.

She looked dumbfounded. "Wh-what the hell!? How!? Did you cheat? Give me a faulty blade?"

"Your grip was loose."

Luna backed away from me. "How dare you! My grip was perfectly fine."

"Then your blade should've stayed in your hands. I wasn't exactly putting a lot of power behind that strike." I shrugged. "If you want, we can go again. And we can swap swords if you think I somehow tampered with the swords."

Luna's eyes flashed with rage. "Fine!" She picked up the sword that lay on the ground and passed it to me, snatching my sword from my hands. We got into our stances again. She launched at me in the exact same manner, loose grip and all. And once again, I knocked her sword away, sending it spinning across the training hall.

"See? It's not because of the blades." I pointed out.

She looked dumbfounded. "How? What kind of Sacred Art are you using?"

I couldn't help but chuckle. _I can't even use Sacred Arts._ "It's nothing that I'm doing." I walked over to the fallen sword and gave it back to her. "Look, let me show you. Get back into your stance."

"Don't you dare touch me." Her anger was rising. "I will report you straight to Mr Galsworthy if you lay a finger on me."

"Then keep getting your sword knocked out of your hand. At the end of the day, it's only going to effect you."

This continued for an hour. And every time the sword was sent flying, I was hurled a bunch of accusations. It was getting rather annoying at that point, but I had finally figured it out by the end of the training session. Luna had only fought novices and people who purposefully lost to her. According to her, she hadn't lost to anyone since she was about 8 years old. All those years of winning had built up a sense that she couldn't be beaten by anyone. And that was now crumbling around her.

And she hated it.

Luna threw the training sword onto the ground in frustration. "I'll find out what you're doing, and then I'll beat you."

"Oh really?" I calmly put the training sword back in the rack. "Then how about a little bet?"

She was still fuming, but I seemed to have peaked her curiosity. "And what would that be?"

"Every time you win a duel, you can skip the rest of training to do whatever you want, and I buy you anything you want in Centoria, within reasonable pricing." I added that last part remembering that I could go broke if it's a noble I'm talking to.

"Every time?" Luna's anger seemed to melt away. "And what do you get if you win?"

"Nothing."

I had seen something similar to this be done while I was in Centoria for the year before joining the Academy. Someone was asking for money to play a game. If you won, you got your money back and a prize, and he got nothing. I was turning this into a one-sided wager, but it was incentive for Luna to improve.

And she took it. "Alright. I'll play your game then."

I lay down on the couch in the living quarters, letting out a loud sigh of relief. I could hear Elite Disciples returning to their dorms, which meant I wasn't going to be alone for long. My right arms was sore from all the upwards swings. "Guess I could've just put a small amount of power behind it and just knocked it away."

"What are you muttering about?" Kimiko closed the door behind her.

"Take a guess." I leaned my head back to look at her.

"I told-"

"-you so. Yeah, I know." I closed my eyes. "I'm tired…"

"Must be, because that's my sofa you're sat on." I suddenly felt the cushions under me tilt, and I rolled off the sofa, hitting the floor hard. I let out a low groan while Kimiko put the sofa back in place. I forced myself to move as I felt Kimiko resting her feet on my back. "So what is so bad about it?"

Flopping down on the other sofa, I pour out a glass of sweet berry juice before beginning to explain it. "Well, she's definitely got this sense of superiority. Like she expects everyone to be a pushover. Didn't really appreciate that I knocked her sword flying every time."

"Welcome to the world of the actual nobles." Kimiko sighed. "It's a shame more of them couldn't be like Lord Grant."

"Mhm…" I stared at the ceiling. "Hopefully I can get her to actually listen at some point."

"Good luck."

* * *

The next day didn't go any better.

Or the next.

Or the following week.

Every single time, Luna would pull out excuse after excuse, accusation after accusation. And to be honest, my patience was wearing very thin.

Luna picked her sword up off the ground. "If I was using my rapier, this would be over in a heartbeat."

"Well then why don't you?" I muttered under my breath. "Look, do you want me to help you or not? Some of the stuff that's allowing me to disarm you are very easy fixes."

"I'm perfectly fine the way I am." Luna glared at me.

I rolled my eyes. "You'll never win against any competent opponent with the way you are."

Luna forced a laugh out. "Please, I've beaten-"

"-beaten everyone you've ever duelled. Yeah, I know. You keep reminding me." I sighed. "Look, just listen for two seconds. If you went against a goblin right now, it would easily overpower you and, if you're lucky, it would kill you."

"You're saying that a mere goblin could best me." Her eyes flashed with rage again. "That's absurd."

"Well better people than you and me have been cut down by lone enemies because of the simple mistakes you're doing!" My temper had reached its limits. "If you're so invincible, then why don't you just go to the Eastern Gate and take on the whole of the Dark Territory!?"

"Wh…" She suddenly froze. "I can't do something like that."

"Well you're certainly acting like you could." My hand was gripping the training sword so tight that it was beginning to hurt my fingers.

Luna narrowed her eyes, before turning around and walking out of the training hall. The door slammed behind her, slowly opening back up with a loud creaking.

The following few seconds seemed to go on forever. There was still that anger lingering there, but my stomach began to cramp up with guilt. _I shouldn't have just blown up at her like that._ I finally loosened my grip on my sword, my palms sweaty. I returned the sword to the rack after wiping the handle with part of my jacket.

And of course, Kimiko was waiting outside with Becchi. They both looked up at me as I approached. "Let me guess, your fuse finally ran out." Kimiko raised an eyebrow.

"I guess." I sighed. "Cleaning is going to be awkward."

"Well I do a lot of it anyway." Becchi rolled his eyes. "The amount of times she's hidden something behind the bookcase or in the plant is stupid."

"Well thank you Becchi." The guilt grew in my stomach. "Hopefully I'll be able to sort it out by tomorrow before any backlash comes out of it."

* * *

I stayed in my room while Luna was cleaning the living quarters. I sat at my desk, tapping my pen against the table. I had absolutely no idea what I was going to say. It was taking her a lot longer to finish cleaning in there than usual, and the longer she was taking, the more that cramp in my stomach grew.

After about thirty minutes of waiting, the door clicked open. "I'm here to clean Elite Disciple Light." Luna muttered as she entered.

"Come in." I took a deep breath before turning around. I could see in her eyes that she had been crying. "You okay?"

"I'm fine." She sighed as she looked around the room, confused. "It's already clean."

"Yeah, I did it."

"But Elite Disciples aren't supposed to clean their own room unless their page is sick."

I shrugged. "Well, after today, I thought it would be best if you didn't need to do it." Luna looked down at the ground. "Is it okay if we talked for a bit?" She nodded, walking over to my bed and sitting down on it. "Look, I'm sorry for getting-"

"Please, I want to talk first." Luna said with a firm voice. "And because you disrespected me earlier, I demand you let me talk first." She took a few deep breaths before continuing. "What am I doing wrong?"

"Huh?" My brow furrowed in confusion.

"Did you somehow go deaf?" Luna sighed in frustration. "What am I doing wrong?"

This was the last thing I expected to hear. "Well…um…first thing is your grip. It's too loose. It's how I'm constantly able to knock your sword out of your hand."

Luna grabbed a piece of paper from my desk and the pen, writing on it. "Grip…next?"

I frowned as I thought back to our clashes. "Second, you're always aiming for the centre mass, which is the easiest place for your opponent to defend. In a proper duel, it doesn't matter where you hit your opponent. If you cut their arm, that's one less limb they can use to attack you. Leg, they're unable to move as well."

Luna began scribbling down on the paper again. "Right…anything else?"

"Your stance is good, but the transition to your attacking stance is very lengthy compared to most other stances. Maybe we can work out a better stance for you while still using the Fencing Style."

Luna nodded. "Okay." She waited for anything else, but I had nothing at this time. She put the paper into a pocket inside her jacket. "Elite Disciple Light, I apologise for being so stubborn. I will try my best to work with you now."

"If you don't mind me asking, why the sudden change of heart?"

She began fidgeting with the pen. "It was when you said that a goblin could easily take me down. I always had the dream of being an elite swordswoman, cutting down hordes of goblins and orcs. But hearing you so angry, suggesting that I go and take on the entire Dark Territory after saying that I was going to be killed by a goblin…I don't know why, but it scared me."

"Well, I wouldn't want to train someone, only to find out they were killed in battle." I stood up and held my hand out towards her. "I'm not going to lie, it'll be a long and gruelling journey over the year, but hopefully by the end of it, you'll come out a swordswoman worthy of your dreams."

Luna took my hand. "Our bet is still on, right?"

"Of course."

She smiled, an actual genuine smile instead of the fake, innocent smile she had put on every time before. "I'll be looking forward to stabbing you with my sword Elite Disciple."

I smiled back. "Call me Light. It's weird to have the Elite Disciple before it."

"Okay then Light."

* * *

**Luna was certainly an interesting character. I like a character that starts out insufferable, but then becomes better. She's still not all the way there yet, but she's at least willing to learn, which I think a lot of nobles wouldn't be willing to do. And also, Light getting frustrated is rare, and so it's a side you don't really see often. He's only really got angry at Diaz before, but even then, he was kind of tame. Heck, even this time was kind of tame.**

**Thank you for reading. I tried to delve into the small details this time. I've been trying to learn swordplay, and the lessons that Luna learns are ones anyone should know if they get into swordplay. So it was nice to pass on some things that I know. I'm still a novice though XD**

**And I do want to make some sort of apology. I've been adding asterisks every time there's a gap in time in my Word Document. I didn't realise that they went missing after saving the document, even when going back and editing them in. Part of it I do blame on this site's editor, but I should've realised a lot sooner. So for that, I'm sorry.**

**Reviews:**

**blackbutteryfly1313: Glad I've improved. That's what I'm trying to do always. I still think it was a little rushed, but I'm glad you enjoyed it regardless. And hopefully you enjoyed this small bit of development for Luna. As I said, she's not fully done, but she's certainly on her way there.**

**Anyway, I'm going to head back to writing. There's still at least a chapter or two with Luna, before I get to move on with the main plot. Hopefully you all will look forward to it.**

**As always, Stay Cool.**


	16. 15: Deepening Bond

**I was only here a few hours ago. Well, this chapter isn't as long anyway. And besides, what else am I going to do at 2 AM when I wake up for no reason at all. Anyway, enjoy.**

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Chapter 15

Deepening Bonds

"Right then, first off, get into your striking position."

Luna crouched down, left leg stretched behind her, and right leg bent in front. Sword pointed at my chest and her hand just in front of her left breast. I walked over to her. Her grip was certainly better than I've seen her do before. "Right then…" I grabbed her elbow and lifted it slightly, so the sword rested in front of her chin. Next, I began lightly kicking her right foot's heel, moving it into a slightly more comfortable position. I made sure she was still focusing where I had been previously before heading back there, getting into my stance. "Come on then, hit me."

Luna launched herself at me. I once again went for the upwards slash. I knocked her sword upwards, but instead of going flying, it stayed in her grip. Her feet dug into the ground, drawing her to a halt, before she drew her sword back to her chin and began rapidly jabbing at me. I focused on diverting the tip of her sword away from my body, before I noticed that everywhere she jabbed at, she looked first. As she aimed for my left arm, I brought in a huge hit from the left, the two blades colliding with a loud clunk, and sending her off balance. I grabbed her as she stumbled forwards.

"Very good." I couldn't help but smile.

"Damnit…I still lost." Luna looked disappointed as she stood up straight.

"Don't worry about it. You've already show improvement. I didn't knock the sword out of your hand on the first strike."

Luna smiled. "I almost had you on the second strike."

"Maybe." I got into my stance again. "Right, I need to confirm something. So come at me the exact same way you did that time."

As soon as she struck at me the second time, it confirmed that her eyes were the issue. I knocked her off balance a lot quicker this time, diverting her strike over my left shoulder, grabbing her wrist and pulling her towards me and tripping her over. I held onto her wrist so she wouldn't hit the ground.

"Great, so what am I doing wrong now?" Luna looked annoyed as I pulled her onto her feet.

"Your eyes. They kept looking at where you were going to strike next."

Luna looked annoyed. "Well how am I supposed to be precise and not look at the same time? That just sounds ridiculous."

"Well, there's a bunch of things we can try." I stroked my chin as I began to think. "Hmmm…maybe not keeping your head as static. I guess it can also depend on your opponent's fighting style. Moving around more maybe? Damnit, Kristina is a lot better at this than me… Um, yeah, let's try something." I got into my stance. "Try crouching up and down as you strike, no matter where you're going to strike. Try and make it as infrequent as possible."

Luna raised an eyebrow in confusion, but got into her stance ready. Immediately she launched at me. As she struck, she went high and low, her feet constantly shifting to allow her to crouch at her desired altitude. All the while, I tried focusing on her eyes. And while sometimes I could see where she was aiming at, the constant change in elevation made it difficult. Eventually I gave up and focused on the tip of her sword.

_The way she can adapt so quickly to my advice is almost scary. Most people can't divert from their style, but Luna has done that so easily._

Then she did something I never expected. She suddenly jumped to the left and aimed for my exposed right. Due to being right handed, I had no way to easily parry the strike. I acted quickly, twirling the blade in my grip to an inner grip, and blocked the strike with the flat of my blade. Luna's wrist bent at an awkward angle and she dropped her sword, wincing in pain.

"Hey, you okay?" I dropped my sword and went over to her. She was holding her wrist which was bright red.

Luna forced a smile. "I almost…had you there…"

"Never mind that, your wrist is hurt." I pushed her sleeve back. It was looking a little swollen. "Right, let's go down to the kitchen. I'm sure they have some ice to help bring down the swelling."

"I'm fine. I can continue." Luna reached down to pick up her sword but I immediately stopped her.

"If you continue, it's only going to make it worse. Come on."

She sighed, an annoyed look on her face. "Fine…"

* * *

"System Call, Generate Luminous Element…"

Mr Galsworthy muttered as the yellow balls of light slowly descended into Luna's wrist. She grimaced slightly as the balls touched her wrist, but then the redness and swelling disappeared. She began flexing her wrist, moving it without trouble. "Thank you Mr Galsworthy."

"You can thank me by not telling any of the other students that I was here." He grabbed a plate of food that had been prepared for him. "We take in too many students. Trying to eat in here is a nightmare when the hall is full."

_Tell me about it._ I bowed at him. "Thank you sir."

"Just make sure it doesn't become a habit. If it does, you'll have to actually learn a Sacred Art." He walked out of the kitchen.

Luna snorted. "You don't know any Sacred Arts? That's like…really basic."

"Well, I know them, I just can't physically speak them for some reason." I muttered to myself.

Luna giggled. "I was wondering why you were only Rank 8 if you were so good with swords."

"Cut it out." I chuckled, feeling my cheeks heat up a little. "Anyway, even if we're quick heading back, we'll only get in a couple of minutes more of training."

Luna looked disappointed. "I almost had you. How are you so fast at reacting?"

"I don't know honestly." I shrugged, a small smile on my face. "But you were amazing. I might actually struggle to keep up with you at this rate."

Luna's cheek turned slightly pink. "Hehe…thank you Light." Her eyes began to water up. "That's the first time someone's been genuinely happy at me maybe beating them."

"Just wait until you actually win a duel against me then." I patted her head. "Well, you're dismissed for the rest of the day. I'll see you later for cleaning."

Luna stood up straight, doing her salute. "Yes Elite Disciple Light!" She turned on her heel and walked away from the kitchen.

_I should step up my game. She almost got me back there, and I was actually trying._ I sighed, disappointed in myself for almost being bested by her on her second week as my page. "Well, there's plenty to work on. Like defence for instance."

"Are you just going to stand there talking to yourself? We're busy." One of the chefs said angrily.

"Sorry!" I quickly walked out of the kitchen.

* * *

The evening sun warmed the room. Summer was definitely on its way. I wasn't looking forward to it. Being close to the Southern Empire, our summers were extremely hot. Not quite scorching like it would actually be in the south thanks to the desert, but with the amount of physical work we do in the Academy, it meant a lot of sweaty shirts and jackets.

I finished writing in my journal about the day's events and placed in on my bookshelf. I soon heard a knock at the door. "Come in." Luna entered and immediately began cleaning. I grabbed the book of commonly used styles quickly and began flicking through the pages as she worked. I went back to the Fencing Style and began reading.

"By the way Light, one of the Elite Disciples had a letter for you, but she seemed nervous to knock for you, so I took the letter." She reached into her jacket and pulled an envelope out.

"Why? I haven't done anything to make someone nervous I hope." I frowned as I took the letter from Luna. She just shrugged before continuing with her cleaning. "What colour was her uniform?"

"Black."

A pang of guilt hit me. "Ah…I know why." It was the girl who I had collided with during my duel with Diaz. I hadn't had the chance to apologise yet, as whenever I approached her, she would walk past at a quick pace, head down, and pretend she didn't hear me.

I placed the letter on the table to read once Luna had gone. She finished folding the fresh clothing that I had lazily put on a spare corner table and put it on one of the shelfs of my bookshelf which is where I shoved all my clothes. "I think I'm done now. Do you need anything else Light?"

"No, I'm fine thanks." I turned around to face her properly. "Hey Luna?" She was just about to leave the room, and turned to look at me as she held the door open. "Good job today. Enjoy your day of rest tomorrow."

She sighed. "I was hoping that I would be able to get you to buy me something. Next week, I will get you though."

I rolled my eyes. "We'll see."

Luna walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. I turned my attention to the letter that was on my desk. I took the small knife that I normally used to cut tough meat and drew it along the top of the envelope.

My smile grew as I realised who it was from. It was from Killian. I read through the letter rather quickly, him asking me how I was, what's been going on in Vetal, his new girlfriend-

I froze as I read the final paragraph. I slowly put the paper down on the desk, my hands shaking. The first three words echoed around in my head for a good few seconds before I actually registered what they meant.

_Myne is missing._

* * *

**Plot twist! Oh man, I love these cliffhangers. I was considering not leaving a post story ramble down here just to let that sit, but there's other things to talk about.**

**I hope you've all liked Luna's development. It might be a little rushed, but I kind of wanted her to have a "reality check" of sorts. And that changes her outlook on things. I'm not fully done with her yet, as we still have a year of her and Light at the Swordscraft Academy. She'll just become more of a supporting character now. And we'll see her development.**

**But I'm afraid I have to annoy you. Next chapter, we'll be returning to the real world for a bit. Here, hopefully I can shed some light (hehe, get it) on Light's real life in the real world. And I'll finally get to introduce you all to Holly, or as she is known in the virtual world, Flower.**

**So until then, Stay Cool.**


	17. 16: Recalling the Past

**DISCLAIMER: This chapter contains some dark subject matter, including PTSD and some of the resulting effects. This scene is basically a preview to some of the more dark elements of my story. If you are disturbed by this chapter, please, do not read any more chapters with a disclaimer like this. There is a reason this story is rated M beyond just violence and swearing. I will be providing a summary of the chapter's events at the bottom.**

**This was hard to write. This chapter contains a scene I've had planned for No Land Beyond for ages, but I never knew how hard it would be to write it out like this. And it isn't even from the perspective of the person I'm planning the scene to be from.**

**Anyway, see you at the bottom.**

* * *

Chapter 16

Recalling the past

_I quickly turned over the mat, grabbing the spare key that was always hidden under there. I fumbled as I tried to put the key in the lock. Even out here, I could hear him yelling. Eventually I managed to slid the key in and turned it. I didn't even bother closing the door._

_Light was on the bathroom floor, on his knees and vomiting into the toilet. I had never seen him in such a state. His back was drenched in sweat, his face was a deathly white, his eyes…they were terrifying to look at. I knelt down behind him and just held him._

"_She's dead…she's supposed to be dead…I…" His breathing became erratic. "I…her…"_

"_Shhhh…" My hands were shaking. "It's okay…"_

"_She's not real…she shouldn't be there…"_

_I withdrew one hand and began rubbing his back. He leaned back into the toilet bowl and threw up again._

_After a few moments, Light looked back at me. His eyes looked hollow, like there was nothing there. "Holly…?"_

"_Yeah, I'm here." I forced a smile. "You scared the shit out of me."_

_A small amount of brightness returned to his gaze. "I don't remember you swearing…"_

_I rolled my eyes. "Well at least you can still joke around."_

* * *

I turned the key in the lock, opening the door to the house. It was dark and cold, but it would do. It was lucky that I still knew those Japanese players who could speak English from The Land Beyond, otherwise I would be screwed.

The house that I was renting for a few weeks was rather plain looking. It was a single floor building with a living room, kitchen and bedroom. The front door led straight into the living room, which had some wooden chairs and a table in the centre, and a tall fern plant in the corner. But that was it apart from the bland off-white wallpaper. The kitchen had the bare essentials, such as an oven and a sink, with a few cupboards underneath the sink, and a fridge.

I took the bag that I had with me over to the kitchen and began unloading the into the cupboards and fridge. I didn't have much, but there was a convenience store just down the road from me. I wasn't planning on staying long anyway.

I decided that I would put away the rest of my stuff later. I just took out a half full bottle of water and a map. Opening it, I first identified where I was. It was on the outskirts of Tokyo. I soon found out the approximate place I was, but I couldn't really tell as I couldn't understand Japanese for the life of me. I sighed. "Why is it that you're never here when you could be so helpful…though if you were here, I wouldn't have come to Japan…" I smiled sadly at the wedding ring on my finger.

"_Once I get back from America, I have something to give you." Light smiled nervously, a light blush appearing on his cheeks._

_I closed my eyes as I rested my head on his chest. "I know I can't convince you not to go. But please come back. I finally found a home with you."_

_He leaned forwards, pressing his lips against my forehead. "Don't worry, I want to come back." A grin appeared on his face. "Or do you think I'll somehow fail?"_

"_Very funny." I yawned. "Now shut up and go sleep."_

It had been two months since then. I sighed, placing my hand on the ring. A low laugh escaped me. "What am I, a lovey dovey schoolgirl? Jesus, I've grown soft." I went back to the map and marked the street I was on.

I looked out the window and saw it was already dark. _Great, jetlag._ I wasn't tired at all. It hit me that I had never been out of England before, and in the past two weeks, I had gone from England to America, and then to Japan. When I had got to Forman Gaming, I was turned away at the desk. Fortunately, a girl called Cocoa had seen me asking about Light, and told me about Rath here in Japan. She gave me Asuna's contact info, and now here I am…

All alone still…

Again…

My heart ached, like it had after the No Land Beyond Incident. When we came out of that place, Light withdrew into himself. Even though everyone else who was young enough to go to school was going, I never saw him there past the first day. I was having my own problems to deal with at home, with a drunken father and a mother too afraid to do anything about it, so I never had the opportunity to go and see him, and the times I did, I just went back into virtual reality, escaping from it all. If we hadn't met in a chance encounter in one of the games, I doubt that I would've ever seen him again.

My phone suddenly buzzed. I opened it to see it was a Japanese number that I didn't recognise. The caller ID was Kirigaya Kazuto. I didn't even recognise the name. I answered it cautiously. "Hell-I mean…Kon…Konichuwa?"

"It's okay, I can speak English."

The last voice I expected to hear on the other end was that of a little girl. "Um…hi. Is Kazuto a girl's name over here."

"That's not my name, that's Daddy's name. I'm Yui."

I smiled, rolling my eyes. "Alright then Yui. How are you so good at English?"

"I'm a Mental Health Counselling Program, so it's best for me to be able to communicate in any language possible."

I began rubbing my forehead in confusion. "So…is that a fancy name for something or-"

"I'm an Artificial Intelligence."

"Right." _Japan certainly is ahead of its time._

Yui cleared her throat. "Mummy can't contact you right now while she's on Ocean Turtle, so I've called you in her place."

"You mean Asuna?"

"Asuna is Mummy, Kirito is Daddy."

_Glad we got that cleared up._ "So what's happening then Yui? Am I going to go to this Ocean Turtle or…?"

"It's too difficult to get you on board."

I rolled my eyes. "Well Asuna is there right now. Couldn't have been too difficult if she's on there."

I heard some guy yelling in the background. Yui began saying something in Japanese that I couldn't understand. "Sorry Flower, we can't get you on board. I can't reach anyone inside the Ocean Turtle, so if you even managed to get on there, you'll likely be arrested straight away."

"I don't care. I'm willing to take that risk just to see him again." My nails began to dig into my palms. "Asuna got on board to see Kirito, why can't I at least try to?"

"It's too hard. We got Mummy on board thanks to someone else. Right now, we don't have any way to-"

I heard some footsteps, and then someone began talking to me in Japanese, rather angrily might I add. I couldn't pick up more than "Yui" and "Asuna". I sighed. "I can't understand you…"

"Klein said 'Stop going on at Yui about it, she's worked harder than anyone to try and get Asuna on board to see…Kiri-bro. If she could get you on board, she would'." Yui muttered. "I don't want to say the rest…"

I leaned back in my chair. "Fine. But if you hear anything, let me know."

"Wait!" Yui exclaimed suddenly. "Sorry, but there is a reason I called other than telling you that Mummy can't call you." She cleared her throat. "There might be a chance you could talk to someone at Rath."

I leaned forward, bringing the map towards me. "Where?"

"Minato Ward in Tokyo."

* * *

I lay down on the thin mattress on the floor, pulling the covers over me. I looked at the map one last time. Yui had sent me the address of Minato Ward in Japanese so it was easier to identify it amongst the other street names. It would take half an hour to walk there, assuming I had found the right address where I was staying.

I unpacked one last thing from my bag and set it next to the head of my bed. Light had it in his bedroom. It was a photo from five years ago, during the summer holidays of 2021. It was me, Light, and Leon.

_Light still hasn't gone to see Leon's grave._

I smiled to myself. "You've certainly got a lot to do when you get back." I rolled onto my back and stared at the ceiling, waiting for fatigue to take over me. Slowly but surely, my eyes began to droop closed.

* * *

"_You haven't spoken for an entire day, you going to tell me what happened?"_

_Light wrapped the blanket around him tighter, as if he was shielding himself from it. "I don't want to…I just want to forget it…"_

"_So you're just going to sit there, slowly going more and more…insane?" I didn't exactly know what word to describe what Light was going through. I barely knew who "she" was. But whoever it was had sent Light to his darkest place I've ever seen. Even Leon's death hadn't affected him this much._

She's probably the reason I never see him anymore. Why he's locked himself indoors and refuses to come out.

_I got up as the microwave pinged. I passed the plate over to Light but he just stared at it. He hadn't eaten since I got here yesterday and it felt like something was slowly squeezing my heart, killing me, seeing him like this. "You're scaring me, you know? We haven't spoken properly since we got out. And then when I finally see you again, it's almost like you want to…to die." A tear rolled down my cheek as my hand started shaking. "Why? Why did you kill the Gatekeeper if you were just going to slowly wither away out here?"_

_A confused look passed over his face. "I couldn't risk you dying." He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world._

_I wiped the tear off my face, a boiling rage taking over. I was angry that he would do this to himself. "Right now, I would rather have died in there if I knew this was what was going to happen." I placed the plate on the table. "I'll stay until you eat."_

_He stared at the food, but didn't seem to focus on it. That hollow look had returned to his eyes. "You should eat too…"_

_I crossed my arms as I slumped into the armchair, glaring at him. "I'm not eating until you have. We can both starve to death."_

_Almost immediately after I said that, he let go of the blanket and grabbed the plate, stabbing the food and chewing it as fast as possible. Some colour returned to his face finally. I let out a deep sigh of relief. _Finally, he's not going to die…

* * *

A shiver went through me as I woke up. I noticed my cheeks were wet. _Did I have that dream again?_ That memory had been haunting me for a while now. It wasn't so bad when Light was here and I could wake to see him lying next to me. But now I was alone, sometimes my imagination would run wild.

I sat up, looking at the picture beside me. Another tear rolled down my cheek.

_No matter what, you're going home Light._

* * *

**Summary: Holly arrives in Japan, receiving a call from Yui explaining that she can't go to Ocean Turtle, but might be able to talk to Rath at Minato Ward in Tokyo. She is haunted by a memory of Light having a panic attack, triggered by running into someone who shouldn't be alive, and her watching him slowly starve over the next few days, only saving him when she threatens to starve alongside him. She vows to get him back home no matter what.**

**I didn't want to outright spoil that scene from my series, so please forgive the whole "she" naming of the person who has caused Light so much trauma. That scene is going to be rather important to Light's character, and how he evolves into the person we see in Nightshade.**

**Thank you for reaching the end of this chapter. I'm slowly going to unveil more of Light's past inside. Who knows, I might be able to slip enough information that this story doesn't need to go on hiatus.**

**Reviews:**

**blackbutterfly1313: I was a little worried that the change was very quick. I was going for a "reality check" moment, someone who was built up but then knocked down to earth really hard. I will stress that she's still not all the way there yet. She still gets frustrated, but is more willing to work with Light to improve. And don't worry, I'm not sacrificing sleep. More like 'I've woken up at stupid o'clock and can't get back to sleep, so writing it is'.**

**I'll see you all in the next chapter. As always, Stay Cool.**


	18. 17: A Mentor's Devotion

**This might be my last chapter for a while. I'll explain at the bottom. But either way, I hope you enjoy this.**

* * *

Chapter 17

A Mentor's Devotion

Luna launched herself at me, sword aimed at my right arm. I knocked it to the side and immediately swung my sword at her stomach. To my amazement, she brought her arm back with blinding speeds, angling her blade to block the strike. Nevertheless, I took the opportunity to go on the offensive. Luna leapt backwards, flipping her body to gain more momentum and using one hand to ensure she could rotate far enough. I prepared a Sacred Art, leaping forward with my sword pressed against my back. A few inches from her being in my sword's range, I brought the sword around. She jumped back as my sword slashed at her chest. My muscles tensed up for a few seconds. Luna prepared her own Sacred Art, her sword glowing white. My arms regained some feeling and I held the sword flat against my chest. She used Holy Cross, a six hit combo that hit in a cross shape. Luna had used it before, so I could easily block it. As soon as she finish hitting against the flat of the blade, I twisted my sword so the sharp blade was pointing towards her, and I stepped forwards and pushed my sword into her neck.

Luna made a noise of disgust, sheathing the practise sword on her belt. "At this rate, I'll never hit you."

"Mhm…" I placed my training sword on the rack.

"You've barely said anything for the last few months. You could at least tell me something to improve."

I turned to face her. "I'll think of something by cleaning. Sorry."

Luna's expression softened. "Well, the Summer Solstice Festival is coming up. You can always go and have a look for her during it."

I shook my head. "No, it's fine. I have stuff to do here."

Since I received the letter from Killian, I have been asking around for the carriage driver who had taken Myne back to Vetal. No matter who I asked though, there was no record of her ever hiring a carriage to go back. My best guess was that it was a personal carriage, which meant it belonged to Karma's family, and I would have to go to Vetal to ask Karma personally who I had to ask where Myne was. But that required a few days of rest in a row. I could go during the Summer Solstice Festival, but I was planning to enjoy the day with Kimiko, Luna and Becchi, to try and take my mind off it.

Luna let out a deep sigh, shaking her head. "I guess I'll look forward to cleaning then."

I looked down at the ground, feeling ashamed for being a terrible mentor to her. "Sorry."

"Well, you could let me hit you. That might allow me to forgive you a bit."

I smiled a little, glancing up at her. "But then in the future when you do hit me, will you know it's because of your own skill or because I let you?"

She rolled her eyes. "I hate it when you're right. But at least you spoke more than ten words in a row."

My eyes returned to the ground. "I guess."

We walked outside. Luna spotted a group of trainees and ran on ahead to talk to them. She had gotten very popular amongst the trainees since she had begun taking training seriously, especially with the boys. I've even had some letters for Luna slid under the dorm door. She never opened them though, saying that she didn't want to date anyone, as that might cause her to start slacking in her goal.

I walked back to the dorm alone, only half paying attention as I walked, dodging to the side to avoid other students. As soon as I was inside, I took a deep breath and flopped down on my bed, an arm over my eyes. _Where could you have gone Myne?_

Every possibility had gone through my head, and despite constantly thinking about it, I was no closer to cracking the mystery, because of one detail; the Taboo Index. Unless she or someone else had found a way to break it, there was no way Myne should've been able to deviate from Vetal.

I sighed as I sat up. I picked up another book that I had started writing in, where I had begun recording Luna's progress. I had descriptions of Sacred Arts from the Fencing Style, sketches of her stances that weren't very good, her footwork while striking and more. It may sound like a lot, but most of the descriptions were very basic thanks to my mindset.

_I need something to help her. Just something…_

I played our duel over and over in my head, but I couldn't think of a single thing she did wrong. In fact, everything was great. Her footwork was amazing now, her sword was always in a guard position, her stances were strong, and the transition between stances were smooth and calculated.

I tapped my finger on the table, trying to think, when someone knocked on my door. "Come in."

Kimiko came in and sat on the bed. "Luna's worried about you again. Becchi overheard her mentioning to another student that her mentor has been distracted, but she still can't hit him during training."

"Yeah. I just can't think straight."

"You know, you can ask Mr Galsworthy for some time off. He'll understand, and then you can go to Vetal to ask that rat bastard where she is." Kimiko looked disgusted. "I just know he had something to do with it."

"Karma?"

"Yeah. He tried hitting on me to get me to throw my match against him. He's always been trying to use his influence as a noble to get the easiest life possible." Kimiko lay back on the bed. "The fact that he's using Myne to try and become an Integrity Knight is low."

I nodded. "Thanks for the suggestion, but no. If I went off to find her, I would be a worse mentor to Luna than I already am."

Kimiko laughed. "You do know she was an absolute brat before you started teaching her, as you know. I mean, she still can be, but she's changed a lot. The fact that she's actually listening to you is an achievement."

I smiled slightly. "All I did was point out the truth. Something that no one else did apparently."

She shrugged, sitting up. "Yeah, well, if you need it…" Her voice trailed off. "Sorry, forgot what I was going to say." A confused look passed over her face. "That's weird."

"You okay?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm good. Just got a lot going on between Becchi, studying and other things." She shook her head from side to side. "Enough about me though. You should really start to pull yourself together. Luna's gonna fall behind if you don't, and trust me, Becchi is looking forward to beating her in the Advancement Exam."

"There's still half a year left."

"That's half a year he can improve. So can Luna." She stood up, stretching her arms above her head. "And also, I won't feel good about defeating you in the final exams if you're distracted by this."

"Mhm…" I nodded.

Kimiko left the room. I looked at the book on my desk, frowning to myself. I flicked through the pages, seeing my notes. My eyes fell on a rough sketch, and I thought back to the Sacred Art she used. I quickly grabbed the book with the Style inside. The Sacred Art she used was called Holy Cross, and was mainly used with rapiers. It was apparently really awkward to use with swords, near impossible. The fact that Luna was even able to use it was incredible. _Maybe I can do something…_

Luna walked in and her eyes widened. "What have you been doing?"

I quickly shoved the piece of paper under a book. "Um…just some drawing." I looked at my desk to see several screwed up pieces of paper from failed drawings. "Ah, I guess I made a few mistakes."

"A few?" Luna sighed as she grabbed a waste basket and began putting the paper inside. "What were you even doing?"

"Just something on my mind." I helped with putting the paper in the basket.

Luna smiled. "You sound better."

"I do?" I leaned towards the back of the desk, grabbing the last piece of paper.

"Yeah. You don't sound like you've always got your mind on something else. You sound like you did back at the beginning of Spring."

I shrugged. "Guess I've found something to distract me."

She picked up the pile of books and placed them on the shelf. "So…is there anything I can do to improve?"

"Well…no." I spied the piece of paper wedged in between two books on the shelf.

"So, what? Are you saying that I can't ever get good enough to beat you?" She looked offended.

I waved my hands in front of me. "No, that's not it. It's more…" I thought for a second of how to say this without giving it away. "You're great, it's something else that's really holding you back, and I need some time in order to fix it."

Luna looked confused. "So what you're saying is that I have the skill to beat you now, but I'm being held back by something?"

"Yeah, basically. So because of that, I'm not going to be duelling you for a few days during training. Instead, we'll be doing something else while I get that thing sorted out."

Luna nodded, but her confusion remained. "Okay then. I'll wait with bated breath."

I smiled. "Good."

_Let's hope I can get it approved by Mr Galsworthy._

"Elite Disciple Light, what brings you here?"

Mr Galsworthy looked annoyed as I entered the kitchen. "Sorry sir, I still don't know where your office is, so I thought it would be easier to go to a place I knew I'd find you."

He grumbled. "I'm also responsible for taking the register once students return from training you know. Though you always seemed to find some way to avoid it." He sighed. "Very well, what do you need?"

"I was wondering if I could get a weapon registered."

"On top of your two swords already? Have you secretly got a third arm somewhere?"

I shook my head. "It's not for me, it's for my page, Luna." I took the piece of paper out of my pocket. "I was planning to commission this at the blacksmith tomorrow during my day of rest."

Mr Galsworthy took the piece of paper, looking over it. "A training rapier? Shouldn't be a problem." He handed it me back. "I'm impressed that you're willing to go to such lengths for your page. Most Elite Disciples don't bother."

"Thank you sir." I bowed to him before turning to the door.

"And take care of that purple sword for the captain."

I looked back but Mr Galsworthy, but he was gone. The fact that he knew that the captain had the sword meant he was from Vetal, maybe even participated in the contest…but Mr Galsworthy looked too old to have duelled during then. _Well, he could be a bit younger than the captain. The captain passed away after I got the sword from him._ I smiled, patting the Night Shadow Blade on my waist.

According to Kimiko, the blacksmith in Wesdarath wasn't great, but there was a man called Sadore in Norlangarth that was a great blacksmith. So, if I wanted a blade to last, I should see him. "Well I've got a trip to Norlangarth tomorrow."

* * *

**I hope you enjoyed, and hopefully I showed Light's sadness at losing Myne well enough. Where did she go, what happened to her etc. are all questions that will be answered later on. But the hints are there if you want to go looking for them.**

**Reviews:**

**blackbutterfly1313: I'm glad in a way that you care so much for Light that you feel bad about Light when he's hurt. I know that these chapters won't be for everyone. But hopefully this also means that Light will be relatable to some people.**

**Anyway, sorry for the shorter epilogue. Some family stuff has come up and I'm not exactly in the right mindset to be writing. But I finished this chapter and I want to get it out so I don't just leave it hanging there, and so the people who are reading this know that something's happening if there isn't a chapter in a while.**

**But anyway, enough about me. Thank you all for reading. I hope the next chapter won't take forever. Just depends on what happens. I hope you enjoyed.**

**Until next time, Stay Cool.**


	19. 18: Alone

**I'm back. Everything's cool now. So, let's get on with this chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 18

Alone

"Bloody thing broke again!? What on earth is this branch made of!?"

I winced as I waited at the counter. The blacksmith called Sadore was yelling in the back room about something. I could hear the grindstone going so I was guessing he was working on a sword of some sort.

Eventually the grindstone stopped and I heard footsteps coming from the back room. Sadore dusted off his hands and removed his gloves. He was an older man, with short grey hair and a beard matching it, mutton chops hanging from his jaws. He slapped what looked like two black stones on the counter, snapped in two. "You better not be ordering some god weapon as well."

I laughed nervously. "No sir, I've already got one."

He eyed the Night Shadow Blade. "That is a fine weapon indeed." He looked me up and down. "An Elite Disciple from the Wesdarath Swordscraft Academy? Don't get many of you up here."

"My friend recommended you as a better blacksmith than the local man." I shrugged.

He grinned. "Well, I'm more of a metalsmith, but I understand the confusion. Welcome then kid! What can I do for you?"

I reached inside my breast pocket and pulled out the piece of paper. "I was hoping to commission a training sword in a rapier style for my page."

"More bloody wood…" He grumbled to himself. He took the paper and unfolded it, squinting at the design. "Hmm…I see. I'll have to redo the drawing, as quite frankly, I can't make heads or tails of it." _That hurts._ "But I should be able to forge one. It'll take about three days though, so you'll have to come and pick it up during the Summer Solstice Festival."

I bowed. "Thank you sir. How much will it cost?"

"Considering it's a training blade and made of wood, I'd say no more than 500 Shia."

I took five golden coins out of my coin pouch and passed them to him. He waved at me as I exited the shop.

"Light?"

I turned at the sound of the familiar voice. Lilith Jade was standing in the middle of the street, holding a paper bag. She was wearing a dark green jacket that had gold trimmings, with a black skirt and boots, and her scarf that was still wrapped around her shoulders. "Oh, hey there." I held a hand up in greeting. "I wasn't expecting to see you here."

Lilith put the bag on the ground. "Likewise. What are you doing in Norlangarth?"

"I was getting something for my page. You?"

She shrugged. "Shopping. There isn't a lot for me to do nowadays."

I could see the sadness in her eyes. During the tournament, she was defeated by Zenith really easily because she used a Sacred Art at the wrong time, causing her to be unable to defend herself as Zenith struck her back. It was a mistake that almost everyone could avoid, but I guess thanks to the stress, she performed the Art accidently. While everyone still cheered for her, I could see that was eating away at her.

I picked up her bag. "Well, let me help you. I have nothing else to do today."

"Are you sure?" While she seemed surprised at my offer, I could see she was happy with the suggestion.

"Yeah, why not?"

A smile appeared on her face. "Very well, I shall accept your offer." She pointed towards the gate to Wesdarath. "I'm heading to my house."

We walked together through the bustling streets. Norlangarth certainly had a lot of traffic, but not as much as Wesdarath. In fact, most of the traffic was from Wesdarath, which meant there was a queue to get through the gates.

"So how's Kimiko handling being an Elite Disciple?" Lilith asked.

"I…honestly don't really know. She seems to be fine, but she doesn't really talk about Becchi that much other than to say he's going to beat my page."

She laughed. "Always got to make it a competition between you two."

"Yeah." I smiled. "So she hasn't come to see you since the Four Empire Unification Tournament?"

Lilith shook her head. "No. No one has really. I've seen Lord Grant around, and he always says hi whenever we do cross paths. But other than that, I'm on my own." The sadness returned to her eyes. "It's kind of lonely." She forced a smile. "At least the Summer Solstice Festival is coming up. That'll be an excuse to get outside."

"I was going to spend the day with Kimiko, Luna and Becchi, but I'm sure we wouldn't mind one more tagging along."

"Oh no, it'll be fine. But if I see you all around, I'll be sure to say hi."

"That would make Kimiko happy."

We made it through the gates. Lilith lead me down some side streets and we arrived at a small house. I set down the bag, expecting her to get out a key, but she just opened the door. She looked at me, confused. "What? No one can enter. That's against the Taboo Index."

"Ah, sorry, I forget." I picked up the bag again. _The Taboo Index really does cover everything, doesn't it?_ An uncomfortable pain began to form in my stomach as I thought back to Myne.

Lilith grabbed my arm. "You okay?"

I realised I had been standing outside while she had gone in. "Yeah, I'm good. Just some things on my mind."

I stepped inside. The house itself was rather small, the front door opening up into a living room and a set of stairs. The living room was similar to the Elite Disciple dorms, only with one sofa and a lot more decoration. A chandelier hung from the ceiling, with the crystals lit up with Light elements. A white tablecloth was draped over the coffee table, and a set of flowers sat in the middle, keep fresh by a vase of water. A single wooden chair sat in a corner, kind of hidden behind a bookcase. At the back of the room was a kitchen that I could barely make out through the crack in the door.

Lilith took off her jacket, hanging it on the back of the chair. I placed the bag on the table. I turned to Lilith to see she wasn't moving. "You sure you're okay?"

She turned her head ever so slightly, just so I could see the ghost of a smile on her face. "Honestly, I'm fine."

Her shaking voice told me otherwise. "No you're not."

A few moments of silence passed. "Will…will you stay for a while?" She turned around. She looked on the brink of tears. "I'm going crazy just staring at these walls alone."

"Um…sure."

She smiled with relief. "Thank you. I can cook if you want something to eat?"

"No, I'm fine. Lunch was rather filling."

Lilith nodded. She pulled off her boots and sat down on the sofa, patting the seat next to her. I removed my sword from my belt before sitting down.

She then did something that made me extremely awkward. She lifted her feet onto the sofa and leaned into me, her hair resting on my shoulder. Her hair tickled my neck. And despite my head remaining facing forwards, I could smell…lavender? It occurred to me that this is probably the closest I've ever been to a girl, And I didn't even particularly know why.

"When you're here, I'm no longer alone. So stay with me for a while, okay Light?"

"Y-yeah, sure thing." I tried to ignore the rising temperature in my cheeks.

I felt her leaning closer. "Thank you…"

A few moments passed and I heard her breathing louder. I glanced to see she was asleep on my shoulder. The smell from her hair was making me relax way more than I should be in this situation.

I yawned, rubbing my eyes as I felt them trying to close. _Maybe…I could sleep for a bit…_

* * *

"…up…on Light…wake…"

I murmured as I slowly opened my eyes. I was staring at the ceiling, the Light elements dancing in the chandelier. A dark shape was above me, but I couldn't focus on it for a few seconds. After those seconds passed though, I realised it was Lilith, and my head was resting on her lap.

"You know, you could cut your hair. If it gets much longer, I'll be able to braid it." Judging by the pulling sensation on the top of my head, she was trying.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep." I rubbed my eyes.

"Why are you apologising? I'm the one who fell asleep first." She sighed. "If anything, I should be thanking you. I was half expecting to wake up and find you gone." She giggled. "You have such a peaceful sleeping face. It's strange that you can look so peaceful while sleep, yet so fierce while fighting."

"You sound like a mother."

"I suppose I do." She let go of my hair, allowing me to sit up. I swung my legs around, leaning back against the sofa. "Thank you for staying with me Light."

"No worries." I shrugged. "What's the time?"

"Late evening, so you'll have time to get back for cleaning." She stood up, grabbing my sword and almost dropping it. "How do you carry around this thing?"

"You get used to it." I took the sword from her and slid it into my belt. "The invitation for the Summer Solstice Festival is still open if you want it."

Lilith looked at the window. "You know what? I'll accept. It'll be nice to see Kimiko again. See that she's actually handling the whole mentor thing well." She raised an eyebrow at me. "So are you asking three different girls on a date? How shameful."

I was taken aback. "N-no! It's just a day out with friends."

She laughed. "You're too easy. But I'm glad you consider me to be one of your friends." She opened the door and let me out. "Hurry back to the Academy then. I wouldn't want you to be in trouble because of me."

"God, you really do sound like a mother." I rolled my eyes. "I'll see you at the Festival."

We waved at each other as I headed back through the side streets to the main street. I followed the road back to the academy as the sky was painted in a bright orange. The Academy wasn't too far away, taking me a few minutes of dodging the last few trader caravans.

I got back to the dorm to see Kimiko staring into space. She jumped as I came in. "Hey."

"Hey." I closed the door and went over to the bookcase, placing the Night Shadow Blade on the shelf and then laying down on the spare sofa. My cheeks flushed as I thought back to waking up on Lilith's lap.

"You seem like you had a good time." She smirked at me.

"Well you'll never guess who I saw today in Norlangarth." I turned my head to look at her. She raised an eyebrow. "Lilith Jade."

Her eyes widened. "Oh sh- I was supposed to go see her last week!"

"You'll see her during the Summer Solstice Festival. She's going to meet up with us."

Kimiko's shock melted into another smirk. "Well look at you mister smooth."

"It's not like that…" I rolled my eyes.

"Sure it isn't."

I looked over at the bookcase where the dull iron sword had sat for several months. _Not since last time…_

A knock came from the door. Kimiko got up to answer it, and in came Luna and Becchi. I stood up and stretched my arms up. Despite the fact that I was asleep only twenty minutes ago, I was ready to go to bed.

I entered my room and soon Luna followed. "What did you get?"

"It'll be ready to be picked up during the Summer Solstice Festival."

She looked kind of disappointed. "Oh, okay. Well what's for training then?"

"I think we could go up to the library to do some Sacred Arts research. I don't know how good I'll be but I can try and help in any areas you're struggling."

"Sure."

* * *

**Just want to clarify that Lilith _does not_ love Light. She appreciates him for being there and for him not caring about her past, but she doesn't love him romantically. He just views her as a friend...and also doesn't want to fall in love after Myne.**

**Summer Solstice Festival up next. Hope you'll look forward to it. I'm looking to provide a lot of character moments, and firmly establish everyone's relationships. Hope you enjoyed the little bit of Sadore I gave you. Looks like he's having tree troubles. Wonder why?**

**Anyway, as always, until next time, Stay Cool.**


	20. 19: Summer Solstice

**It's been a while, hasn't it? Well, unfortunately, I just lost motivation for writing for a while. But it's finally returned and I'm back here again. Slightly longer chapter than normal to make up for it though. And I'm going to be really interested to see the reactions to this one.**

**See you at the bottom.**

* * *

Chapter 19

Summer Solstice

My eyes widened as I saw the streets through the window. It's almost like they had transformed overnight. Lamps were lit with blazing red fires despite being the middle of the day, supposedly to represent the Sun God Solus. Bases of trees were decorated with offerings to the Earth God Terraria. Banners hung between buildings. Stalls were set up with all sorts of sweets and cakes to celebrate the occasion.

I pulled on my purple jacket but didn't bother buttoning it up. Today was a day of celebration, so it was accepted if you didn't wear the clothing of your academy or Calling, but I didn't exactly have any other clothing. But having it unbuttoned was a nice change. Especially as the sun was high in the sky and staring right at Wesdarath. I went out of my room and saw Kimiko waiting.

Her hair was tied back like it had been in Vetal. She was wearing a black dress with a crimson red coat, a white rose pin on the strap of her dress.

"What are you staring at?" She turned away, her cheeks slightly pink.

"Sorry, just surprised." I couldn't really imagine her in a dress before. "Y-you look nice."

Her blush intensified. "We should go and meet Becchi and Luna." I looked at the bookcase instinctively, ready to put the Night Shadow Blade on my waist. "You don't need that." She shook her head, smiling.

"Yeah, force of habit." A pit grew in my stomach as I left it behind.

We headed out. Down the hall, I could see several people also getting ready to leave. As I shut the door, I noticed Diaz was staring at Kimiko, shooting me a look of…jealousy? I couldn't really tell.

Kimiko grabbed my arm and pulled me away. "Don't even look at him."

"Something happen?"

"He asked me out on a date…" She looked disturbed. "Well, asked isn't exactly the right word to describe it. More demanded that I go out with him."

"Oh."

"He wasn't exactly happy when I said that I already have plans." She let out a sigh of relief as we got outside. "Well, let's just ignore that. Becchi and Luna are over there."

Indeed they were. Luna waved at us as we approached. She was wearing a short sleeved white dress with blue roses stitched into the helm of the dress, a leather corset covering her stomach. On her neck was a silver chain with a bird shaped pendant, a ruby embedded into the eye. Becchi had a white shirt, leather waistcoat and his grey trainee slacks.

Becchi looked rather uncomfortable. When he joined the Academy, he hadn't had the best experience with nobles, and the initial few weeks with Luna making life harder for him didn't exactly help remove that distaste. Kimiko had a rough time convincing him to come out with the group today because of that. I couldn't blame him, but I wish that he would see that she's grown past that now.

"You're almost late." Luna said as she looked up at the sun.

"Yeah, but we're not." I shrugged.

Luna pouted. "You could at least let me try and annoy you every once in a while."

"Sorry, gonna have to try harder than that." I looked at the dress. "Blue roses?"

Luna nodded. "Apparently Da- I mean Mr Regal heard a legend while up in Norlangarth about it and had this dress commissioned for me." She did a small twirl. "You like it?"

"Yeah…it's nice."

"Aw, you'll make me blush."

I saw Kimiko's eyes widen sudden. She ran past me and went over to Lilith who was walking over to us, Kimiko throwing her arms around her.

"Is that Elite Disciple Kimiko's mentor?" Becchi asked.

"Yeah, that's Lilith." I nodded.

Becchi sighed. "Alright then…let's get this over with." He glanced back at Luna.

"Well, if you need some space, I'm sure you and I could go get a bite to eat or something." I shrugged.

He gave me a thankful smile, which immediately turned to annoyance as Luna went up behind him and started pushing him. "Come on then Becchi, we're not here to stand around all day."

"Hey Luna, don't torment him." I shook my head and followed.

Lilith was wearing the same outfit I saw her in the other day, but she seemed to be glowing with happiness today. She smiled at us as we approached. "Good morning." A put up a hand in greeting. "I was worried I'd oversleep."

"She's the one who beat Lord Grant?" Luna began circling Lilith, looking her up and down.

"Yes." I sighed, giving Lilith an apologetic look. _I'm gonna have to keep Luna on a short leash aren't I?_ "Luna, leave her alone." I noticed Luna staring at the sword at Lilith's side with curiosity, knowing that she'd try and give it a swing. Heck, she tried with the Night Shadow Blade once, and failed miserably when she could barely lift it.

"Well you've certainly got a lively page." Lilith smiled. "And you're Becchi right? Has Kimiko been teaching you well?"

Becchi nodded frantically. "Y-yes she has. I'm very grateful."

"Good."

"I wouldn't try and do a bad job." Kimiko rolled her eyes.

Lilith wrapped an arm around Kimiko's neck. "I know, just making sure. After all, both of you have got to keep up the streak I've started." She glanced at me and Luna.

"I'm not going to let Kimiko beat me that easily." I shrugged.

Kimiko cleared her throat. "Enough chitchat, shall we get going?"

* * *

The streets were bustling with activity. When moving down a main street, you were constantly side stepping people who were pushing through to grab some sort of food or do some sort of game.

I watched Luna and Becchi arguing about something as I bit into the candy apple that Kimiko had bought for me, my coin purse feeling rather light as I hadn't bought much out with me, but I seemed to be spending at every stall thanks to Luna.

The two stopped arguing finally, Becchi letting out an exasperated sigh. I knew he needed a break now. "Hey Becchi, want to join me on a little errand?"

"Yes." He nodded frantically. "Where are we going?"

"Just into Norlangarth." I lifted the paper bag that had Luna's stuff in it. Before I could walk off with it though, Lilith snatched it from my hands. "I can carry it. It's not a long journey."

"Repayment for the other day." She shooed me away. I sighed, heading off with Becchi through the busy streets.

"So where are we heading?" He asked.

"To Sadore's Metalworking Shop. I've got something to pick up." I breathed a sigh of relief as we got into a wider street which had more room to manoeuvre. "You doing okay? You and Luna were getting rather heated there."

He took a look behind him as if to make sure she wasn't there. "She just so stubborn sometimes."

I chucked as we walked through the gate to Norlangarth. "Yep, I know. But that's part of her charm I suppose."

He looked at me with a confused look. "Sorry, but I find charm to be a bit of a strong word when she's the subject."

I shook my head. "Look, I know she's hard to get along with. Heck, for the first few days, I struggled to get along with her. But underneath that stubbornness is a good heart."

Becchi shook his head. "Just whenever we talk, we can't agree on anything. She started an argument over which way a sword should face when placed on a shelf."

I frowned, worrying if I was really the only one who actually got along with Luna. "Maybe try and avoid her for a bit then."

"I try to." He sighed. "Unfortunately, with you and Elite Disciple Kimiko being in the same dorm, it's inevitable that we meet up." He sighed. "I'm just going to hope we place in completely different positions in the Advancement Exam so I don't have to talk to her." A pit grew in my stomach, feeling terrible that they couldn't get along.

The rest of our journey was in silence. It didn't take long to get to Sadore's, but due to the silence, it seemed to take longer than it should've otherwise. When we reached it however, I stepped inside to see another trainee standing at the counter.

"Tell him it's nowhere near done. It's taken me this long to get the branch to even look remotely like a blade." Sadore sighed, pinching his brow and shaking his head. "Why'd he send you anyway? Couldn't he have come here himself?"

"He's with Elite Disciple Sortiliena today. He said he'd meet me here but he seems to be running late." The trainee with flaxen hair looked just as exasperated as Sadore.

I looked back at Becchi. "I won't be long. Take a look around if you want." Becchi nodded and began looking at the spare bits of armour that sat loose in a box.

"Either way, I doubt the sword will be ready for a while. Tell him he's better off checking nearer the end of the Winter Solstice."

The trainee nodded. "Knowing him, Kirito will be here next week to check."

My eyes widened at the sound of that name. _Kirito…?_ The only person who might hold the answers as to why I'm here. He was here, in Norlangarth? He's been so close the entire time.

I snapped out of my thoughts to find the flaxen haired boy had disappeared. Sadore was looking at me confused. "What you standing there staring into space for?"

"Sorry." I stepped up to the counter. "I'm picking up the trainee rapier I commissioned?"

"Yeah, I got it right here." He leaned down and picked up a package wrapped in cloth. Inside was a thin sword in a leather sheath. I picked it up, noticing how light it felt, and drew the blade. The grip curled inwards, my palm resting comfortably on the top of it. The crossguard was elegant, curling inwards over where the hand rested and outwards towards the blade on the underside. It was amazing.

I returned the blade to the sheath, wrapping it in the cloth again, and bowed. "Thank you so much sir."

"No, thank you for giving me business." Sadore looked at his back room with an annoyed look. "I need it when I'm losing grindstones left and right."

I took a deep breath before asking. "Who's Kirito?"

"He's commissioned a sword from me made from a branch of that demon tree." Sadore shook his head, rubbing his eyes. "All I know is he's a trainee from the Norlangarth Sword Mastery Academy. To think that he got his hands on such a tough material…maybe he's the one who cut down the tree. That sword his partner has certainly would do the trick…" He snapped himself out of his rambling. "If you want to know more, you'll have to ask him or his partner."

_Norlangarth Sword Mastery Academy doesn't allow other Academy students in unless it's for duelling. I'd have to think of a reason to duel someone there. _I groaned inwardly. Despite finally getting some information, I was nowhere closer to finding out the truth.

I bowed again, walking out of the store with Becchi. "Why were you interested in a trainee from Norlangarth?"

"Don't worry, just something I'm trying to work out." I didn't really think that the explanation 'I heard a voice in my head saying Kirito's name' would exactly make sense.

* * *

We got back to Wesdarath pretty quickly. Becchi said he needed to go and grab something from his dorm, even though I knew it was just that he wanted to avoid Luna for a bit. I headed down the street that we left Kimiko, Lilith and Luna on.

Out of pure luck, I saw them standing next to a stall, Lilith embracing Kimiko. I headed over, about to call out when I saw the confused look on Kimiko's face, along with tears shining in her eyes.

"Where's Light?" She asked.

"He went to Norlangarth with Becchi." Lilith said, her voice soft as she cuddled Kimiko.

"Ah. Why didn't we go with them?"

"Light said he had an errand to run. And Becchi needed some space so he went with Light."

Kimiko nodded. "Sorry, I forgot again."

"It's not your fault." Lilith put her arms on Kimiko's shoulders and looked dead into her eyes. "Kimiko, have you told him?"

Kimiko shook her head. "I want to…but…"

I cleared my throat as I approached. "You all okay?"

Luna suddenly grabbed my arm. "Light! Let's go over here! I've got the craziest thing to show you!" She dragged me away from the other two.

"Luna, what's going on with them?" I asked sternly.

Luna shook her head. "Not now." That pit in my stomach began growing again. I wanted to go and ask Kimiko what was wrong, but Luna kept a tight grip on my arm. "She'll tell you when she's ready." She quickly snatched the cloth package that was in my hands. "What's this then?"

"It's yours." I said, taking a deep breath and turning my attention to her.

"Huh? But you're not supposed to buy me stuff until I hit you."

"Like that's stopped you today."

"I was going to pay you back…" She pulled the string that was keeping the rapier concealed. Her eyes lit up as she realised what it was. "Seriously!?"

"Yeah. It should help with your training." I couldn't help but smile at the look on her face.

She wrapped her arms around me, making me stumble back slightly. She held on for a few seconds before stepping back. "I-I don't deserve this."

"Why not? You've worked hard enough."

She gave me a half-hearted laugh. "I've been nothing but a pain since you started training me, and yet you give me every opportunity to be better." She looked up at me. I could see a spark of joy in her eyes that I've never seen before. "I-I'll beat you. I promise. I will make all the effort you put in worth it."

I nodded. "Then I look forward to it."

* * *

It was cold. The night sky was sparkling with a thousand lights. Posts with Light Elements now lit the streets. The festival was drawing to a close, with everyone going home.

I sat down on a bench next to Kimiko, who was staring off into space. Becchi had returned earlier, and was now talking with Lilith. Luna had gone back to the Academy to register her new training rapier.

Kimiko continued staring straight ahead for a while, not even really acknowledging that I was there. I let out a deep sigh, my muscles aching from the day.

"Light, we first met in the duelling tournament in Vetal right?" Kimiko said suddenly.

I was confused at the question, but nodded. "Yeah."

"I was angry because you had the same style as me. We used real swords in oppose to training swords. And because you had already been using yours, it broke. And then I repaired it." Her hand began shaking. "We didn't meet again until we joined the Academy."

"Yeah, that's right."

She smiled. "I haven't forgotten then."

"Why would you have?"

A few seconds of awkward silence passed between us. "I'm losing my memory."

* * *

**Mic drop.**

**If you go back into earlier chapters, you'll probably notice that there are several small things that Kimiko has been forgetting. Small, but she has been forgetting. Damn I love foreshadowing XD**

**I'm kind of worried I packed too much into this chapter. Originally this was planned to be two separate chapters, with the memory loss and rapier parts being in another chapter or later down the line. But because of the delay on this chapter, I wanted to make it worth the wait.**

**Reviews:**

**Guest: Thank you. I've certainly got a lot planned for them. And I hope you will look forward to their journeys. I'm also looking forward to getting to the parts where Light's presence changes the events of Alicization.**

**Anyway, I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. And I really hope you look forward to the next one. As always, Stay Cool.**


	21. 20: Moving towards finality

**Didn't take as long this time, but still, wish it was done sooner. See you at the bottom.**

* * *

Chapter 20

Moving toward finality

"…ght…Light…?"

I blinked, my vision focusing again. My mind had gone blank for a few seconds…or was it longer? I don't know.

Kimiko was sat there, looking worried. I took a deep breath before speaking. "T-that's…quite the bombshell to drop." She nodded. "How long?"

"It's been something that's been happening ever since I've been born." She leaned back, swinging her legs back and forth. "Until recently though, it's only been short term, and I've been able to deal with it. But now, I'm forgetting parts of my life." A tear ran down her face. She wiped it away. "Sorry…I'm just scared."

"I know." My voice shook. I knew somewhat how she felt. When I woke up, I had no idea who I was or how I got in Vetal. Still, it was nothing compared to going through every day, knowing that the previous could disappear at any moment. I couldn't imagine it. "Is there nothing you can do?"

"I'm already trying." She muttered. I began working that information through my head, trying to decipher what she meant. And then it clicked.

The one thing she thought would work: becoming an Integrity Knight.

Something I've never really thought about is everyone else's reasons for becoming an Integrity Knight. The only person I know about is Eldrie, who offered up the information voluntarily. But Kimiko and Luna hadn't really told me. For Luna, I could guess that it was due to being a noble and being brought up to become an Integrity Knight. But Kimiko was always a mystery until now. And finally, the missing piece had fallen into place.

And I could understand why she was so reluctant to tell me. She could tell Lilith, Luna and Becchi without it ultimately affecting them. But I had to duel her, and the winner would achieve their memories and crush the other's.

Could I now duel her with everything I had, knowing if I won, I would destroy her chance at recovering her memories and doom her to an eternity of losing her past?

"Light, I know what you're thinking." She said, her voice sharp and clear. "If I lost to you fair and square, I wouldn't care about my memories." She gripped her arm. "Even if I lose the memory of the fight, my body will always remember that I gave it my all. It's the same for you right?" I nodded. Even without my memory, my body remembers the sword. "I don't know who taught me the style we both use, but I'll always remember the skills. So no matter what, give me the best damn duel you've got, okay?"

"Yeah…" My mind finally stopped racing.

She stood up. "It's getting cold. We should probably head back." She was shivering, but I knew that wasn't because of the cold. It was actually rather warm.

She got a few steps ahead before I stood up. I walked briskly to catch her up. "Hang on." She turned to look at me and I wrapped my arms around her.

Kimiko finally lost the last little bit of resistance she was using to hold back her tears and she began crying in my arms. "I-I just…" She said between sobs. "O-out of all t-the things I don't want t-to forget…I don't want to forget you…"

"Shhh…it's okay…" I muttered under my breath.

_It's weird, being on the other side of this…being the one comforting rather than comforted…_

_Wait…what does that mean…?_

* * *

I stood outside the Minato Ward, taking a deep breath before knocking on the door. I took a step back and looked around while I waited.

Tokyo was certainly a lot more clean than back home. The streets were basically spotless, a surprise because the city where me and Light lived had trash rolling down the roads like tumbleweeds. It was extremely busy too, everyone heading to work or school.

"It's so different…" I said under my breath.

"Holly?" Yui said through my phone.

"Sorry, got distracted." I looked forwards. Apparently Yui was here to help me, but not through my phone. I had no idea how, but I just was tired of asking questions. I almost laughed, knowing exactly what Leon would've said. _"You can ask questions you know."_

The door opened and a Japanese man stood there. He said something that I couldn't understand. I looked down at my phone, waiting for Yui to say something, but there was silence. I looked back up, ready to apologise and walk away, when I noticed he was looking at my shoulder. But there was nothing there.

The man nodded, sighing. He went back towards the door and beckoned me in. I was extremely confused but took his direction and went inside.

The reception was deceptively normal. Just a desk, some seats for waiting, and three doors that lead to separate rooms. The man gestured to the seats and went inside one of the rooms. I caught a glimpse of some sort of monitor. All I saw was the corner of a white tower before the door closed.

I sat down and looked down at my phone. "You going to tell me what that was?" Silence came from the speaker. "Okay then…" I leaned back and waited.

Soon enough though, the man came back out, holding what appeared to be a white earpiece with a microphone. He held it out to me and tapped his ear. I took it and put it on my ear. Suddenly, a flash appeared in front of my eyes and I saw a girl right in front of me.

I recoiled in surprise. She laughed, which told me exactly who it was. This girl with long black hair and a pink pixie dress was Yui. "Have you been there the whole time?"

"Yep!" She beamed at me. "Suguha wanted me to help you while going to Rath." Weird thing was that she said that in Japanese, and a piece of text appeared in the corner of my vision to translate it into English.

"Amount of kids that show up here nowadays…" The man rubbed his eyes. "Follow me, you can speak to him yourself."

He opened the door and gestured inside. I went inside, drawing in breath at the sight in front of me. A pure white tower standing tall above a bustling city, with green fields and forests that stretched for miles, leading to ugly, jagged mountains, contrasting the beauty of the rest of the world. In the middle of the mountains, a silver gate stood strong against whatever lay beyond it.

The man began pressing a few buttons on the control panel. The world disappeared and two screens replaced it. One showed a reflection of me and the man. Despite that Yui was hovering above my left shoulder, she wasn't there on screen.

Soon the other screen activated. Two men, one standing and the other sitting. The one standing sighed as he saw me. "Maybe we shouldn't have let Asuna have that phone call."

"Asuna had nothing to do with me being here. Even if she never called me, I would still be here." I immediately felt a pit of anger towards this man. Something about him said he couldn't be trusted.

"Come on Kiku, give her a break. She's travelled here all the way from the UK." The sitting man smiled. He certainly gave off a much more friendly aura than this 'Kiku'.

Kiku sighed and relaxed a little. "Well, I suppose it isn't hard to find that place, thanks to that little AI Kirito and Asuna took in." He stared at my shoulder, as if knowing Yui was there. "Well then…Flower, is it?"

My eyes narrowed. "How do you know that?" Ever since The Land Beyond, I had left that name behind, opting for 'Rose' instead. Being a government official in contact with Mr Miamo and Crystal though, I guess it made sense…

His answer though was something I didn't expect. "Light calls out that name sometimes. Along with Holly. He says he needs to get back home for you."

Honestly, I almost welled up at that. Fortunately, I had become very good at stopping myself from showing large displays of emotion in front of others. I took a deep breath. "So he is there, isn't he?"

Kiku nodded. The sitting man rolled his chair back from his keyboard. "He's alive at least. And recovering…almost at an alarming rate."

"And that's bad because…sorry, I don't know your name."

"Ah, sorry. It's Higa." He scratched the back of his head. "This is Lieutenant Colonel Kikuoka." He grabbed the edge of the desk and pulled himself towards it again. "In terms of Light's recovery, it's very good. At this rate, he could come out just after Kirigaya. But the issue is the rate is far too high than a human mind should be able to handle. It's actually incredible that he hasn't had some sort of mental shutdown."

I laughed. They both looked confused. "Oh you don't know Light at all. This is nothing compared to…" I trailed off, remembering again that night two months ago. "He'll make it out. As long as he's recovering."

"Well, then the issue might be the STL…" Kikuoka muttered. He put on a big smile though. "But if you're certain of his recovery, then I can at least relax a little."

_He will. I know he will._

"Holly?"

A familiar voice came from the monitor. I looked around the edges for the source. Yui suddenly starting beaming, her smile bright. "Mama!"

And into frame came a girl. She had to be older than me, on the edge of adulthood. She was beautiful, almost unrealistically perfect. Chestnut hair that flowed halfway down her back, braided around the back to form a small ponytail. Large hazel eyes that were framed by long eyelashes, shining bright thanks to a soft smile.

It was the first time I had seen Asuna, and she had seen me.

"Hi." I returned the smile.

She let out a small laugh. "I thought I heard you on a plane. I didn't think you'd find that place."

"Well, I had some help." I pointed to the pixie that now stood on my shoulder, fists on hips with a proud expression. It made me realise how similar the daughter was to her mother, despite the fact that Yui was an AI.

"Y-Yui?" Asuna looked shocked. _Something tells me that Asuna didn't know that Yui and the others had contacted me._ "I'm going to have to have a talk with her when I get back later today…"

"You're coming back already?" I frowned.

"Yeah. I'll be able to see Kirito before I go though." She looked genuinely happy.

I gave a little laugh. "Any chance we can swap places then?" My voice almost cracked as I said that.

Kikuoka shook his head. "We'll get the Minato Ward word when Light's awake. They'll call you and then you can establish contact." He looked up. "This call has been going on too long. We should shut it down to reduce risk of being compromised."

I nodded, understanding. It still didn't stop me from feeling a pang of sadness. Higa began typing. "Hey Asuna." She looked up. "When this is over, let's all meet up. Me, you, Light and Kirito."

"Sure." She nodded. "It'll be a double date."

The suggestion made me smile. The screen suddenly went black, the connection severed. I let out a sigh.

_If what Higa said is true, Light should be awake either later today or tomorrow. Maybe then he can finally rest._

* * *

**Well, we had some more time with Holly. I wanted to have a small interaction face to face with her and Asuna. And I always thought that the Augma could be used as a translation device if it was in the real world. It would certainly make communication easier.**

**Small time skip next chapter. We'll be ending Part 2 next chapter, and then moving into Part 3, The Four Empire Unification Tournament and the aftermath of that. I can't wait to share it (if I get the motivation to write that is). And this aftermath will be the first time Light directly affects Kirito and Eugeo's journey.**

**Reviews:**

**blackbutterfly1313: Hehe, don't worry, it won't be long until Eugeo returns. I'm kind of glad I can keep you on edge, because that's kind of what adding Light into Alicization would do, add this unpredictable element. But...even in the darkest times, there's always hope. And hopefully moving forward with this story, I'll be able to show that. Especially in the Epilogue story ;) I answered your question before, but for the sake of answering it here too, Lilith knew about Kimiko's condition from the very beginning, as she would've been directly effected by it.**

**Guest: Thanks. Don't worry, I haven't changed the overall story too much. It's mainly the ending that I changed. And I changed it to be much darker...including more deaths. So don't worry, not everyone is going to survive. It wouldn't be much of a War of Underworld if only one side suffered losses.**

**Thank you all for reading again. I hope to see you next time for the finale of Part 2. As always, Stay Cool.**


	22. 21: Keeping the Promise

**Well then. I hope I can keep up this pace. I really wanted to write a chapter about Kimiko specifically as I haven't really done one, so to end off Part 2, here's a chapter about her.**

**See you at the bottom.**

* * *

Chapter 21

Keeping the Promise

"You sure you want to do this?" I looked at the blank page in front of me.

Kimiko nodded. She put on a smile and took a deep breath. "I just want to know how I'm doing every week."

I swallowed the lump in my throat and shrugged. I took out a pen and dipped it into the ink, ready to write down everything she said. "Okay then…well, start whenever you're ready."

Kimiko nodded. "I was born in the year 372 in the time of the realm of humanity. My mother works at a stall in the town, selling wares, while my father makes them in the blacksmith shop. My original Calling was as a blacksmith, being the only child. However, one day, I picked up a sword and the captain of the guard saw some natural talent. I began using my own style which I perfected over the years, using the blades I made as a blacksmith apprentice." She began to smile slightly. "Then my father saw me practising one day and told me to enter the Duelling Tournament, and if I could get into the Swordscraft Academy, he would release me from my Calling to go be an Integrity Knight…and to fix my memory loss." She leaned back in the chair and sighed. "And that's basically when I met you. You…annoying guy that used my own style that I came up with."

"Didn't you say someone taught you that style?" I raised an eyebrow at her and I continued writing, quickly dipping the pen in the ink again.

She frowned. "I don't remember. I think maybe I had seen someone else using something similar…but I…" She looked pained.

"It's okay." I placed the pen down on the table, gently blowing on the page to allow the ink to set. "So we're doing this again next week?"

Kimiko nodded. "I want to know how much I remember…"

* * *

The leaves had faded from the bright greens of summer to orange and gold, almost making it look like a sunset every time you looked outside the window.

Luna yawned as she finished her combo. The training rapier was certainly doing her wonders for her speed. I was kind of worried that the day was coming that she would finally hit me. My stamina was certainly being pushed closer to its limits. I grabbed a towel and wiped the sweat from my forehead, passing one to Luna.

"You're…getting there…" I said between sharp breaths, raising a skin of water to my lips.

"Light, you should…be careful. If you push yourself too much…your Life will decrease." Luna muttered as she took the skin from me and drank from it.

I shrugged. "If I'm not pushing myself…then how can I expect you to do the same?"

She sighed, shaking her head in disbelief. "Well, you should hurry. Kimiko will be waiting for you."

I nodded, sheathing the Night Shadow Blade on my belt and returning the training sword to its holder. After saying to Luna that I'd see her later, I headed back to the dorm.

"You're running behind." The slight jab came from the sofa as I placed my sword on the shelf again.

"Yeah, well you know how training can be." I took another swig from my water skin before sitting down, paper in hand. I didn't really need it now due to hearing the story so many times, but it was nice to keep tradition.

"Take a minute to breathe, jeez." She lifted her legs up, sitting cross-legged opposite me. "It won't be good if you pass out halfway through."

I nodded, taking several deep breaths to allow the adrenaline from training to slowly fade. I nodded, leaning back on the sofa and unrolling the paper.

"I was born in the year 372 in the time of the realm of humanity. My mother works at a stall in the marketplace, selling wares which my father makes in the blacksmith shop. Originally, my Calling was a blacksmith, being the only child. However, one day, I began swinging around a sword that I made and the captain of the guard happened to see me. His praise drove me to start using my own style which I practised for a long time, using the swords I made as a blacksmith apprentice." The same small smile appeared like it always did. "Then my father saw me practising one day and told me if I could get into the Swordscraft Academy during the Duelling Tournament, he would release me from my Calling to go be an Integrity Knight."

I nodded. All the same details were there. "It's still the same."

Kimiko looked relieved. "I had a feeling I had forgotten something. Thank goodness."

I shook my head. "You're still good." A small weight being lifted again. Every week, I worried what if she forgot something. Luckily, this week wasn't that week…

* * *

Decaying leaves littered the grounds outside, poking through a blanket of white snow which blinded me every time I looked out of the window, the sun reflecting off the surface like a mirror.

Training had been cancelled due to the weather. Apparently the training halls were like a freezer that butchers used to store meat. I sat down on the sofa, breathing into my hands to attempt to warm them a little faster than the small metallic container could. It was something Kimiko made in her spare time, filling it with heat elements to warm the room. It was effective, but I kind of wish it would be faster.

"Ready?" I asked the bundle of blankets as I unrolled the paper, letting it rest on my lap.

The head poking out of the top nodded. "Yeah." She took a deep breath before starting. "I was born in the year 372 in the time of the realm of humanity. My mother was a merchant at the market, selling stuff. My Calling was a blacksmith, but I-"

"Hang on." I stopped her. "What did your mother sell?"

"She sold…"

The heat from the container seemed to drain from the room. I could've sworn my heart froze for a few seconds as I begged that she was only kidding. The moment her eyes widened in terror was when I realised she wasn't.

"What did she sell?" The blanket suddenly became very tight around her, as if she was trying to shield herself. "What…what did she…Mum…what did you…?"

I stood up and walked around the table, sitting down beside her. I took a deep breath before talking. "Your mother sold the things your father made in the shop."

Her eyes became wet. "Dad was a blacksmith…of course…where else would I get my Calling?" She gripped her hair and bent down, breathing heavily. "How could I forget that!? It's so obvious! What is wrong with-"

I gripped one of her hands. "It's okay…it's not your fault…"

She looked up and rested her forehead on my shoulder. I reached an arm around her back and began patting it. I could feel the sleeve of my jacket getting rather wet. I didn't really know what I could say or do other than this. This was the first time she had ever actually forgot something major for me. Other times, it was small stuff, like she forgot what the date was, or what the exact wording for a Sacred Art was, something I had to ask Luna for help with, but it was stuff that could easily be recalled or relearned. This…this was hard to stomach.

"I'm sorry." A croak came from my shoulder.

"It's okay." I stopped patting her back, letting her retract from my shoulder.

She forced a smile. "Before, I would be sat there crying for hours…so thanks for being here."

"No problem." I dreaded to think what it was like for her before, sitting alone and desperately trying to recall the memory. A chill ran down my spine.

She ran her fingers through her hair, trying to return it to normal. It had become messy when she grabbed it. "Shall we continue?"

"You sure?" I looked at her, worried.

"Yeah."

I stood up and walked back around to my sofa. I nodded at her.

"One day, I picked up one of the swords I made…"

* * *

The air has warmed a little, but still the bite of winter remained whenever the wind picked up. The snow had melted from the bright white to a disgusting grey colour, winter slowly coming to a close.

I walked into the living area of my dorm to see Kimiko sleeping on the sofa, a book resting on her chest. I couldn't prevent a small smile from appearing on my face. I grabbed a trainee jacket that sat on a hook and put it over her. I then pulled a chair over and sat down next to a window in the glow of the moon. I sighed. It was only a few weeks until the Four Empire Unification Tournament, the end point of my journey so far. It has been something I've worked so hard to get to…but now, I didn't even know if I wanted it. Kimiko had specifically not told me about this so I would fight the best I could during our duel. Now? I didn't know if I had to will to shatter her dream if I could beat her.

Not going to lie, she's strong. Easily the best swordswoman I've seen in the academy. So much so, I wondered why she was only Rank 7, especially with her grasp of Sacred Arts that I didn't have. I actually didn't know if I could beat her now, despite beating her back in Vetal.

I wanted to keep our promise of going all out, yet I wanted her to live a normal life more than anything. And seeing her break down like that after losing a memory from her past…it almost broke me too.

A noise came from behind. I looked to see her bright sapphire eyes staring at me. "How long have you been awake?"

"Long enough to know something's bothering you." She swung her legs around and sat up straight.

I shrugged, shifting myself so I could see her properly. "It's fine. Just thinking."

"About the Tournament?" She asked. I smiled sadly, knowing she had got it in one. She rolled her eyes before wrapping the jacket tighter around her. "You're too kind to me…and too cruel…"

I shook my head. "Sorry. I just-"

"I know you enough to know what you're going to say, so shut up." Kimiko looked down at her knees. "You promised me when you found out that you'd give me the best duel of my life right?" I nodded. "I'm going to hate you if you don't keep that promise…"

"I'd rather you hate me and live a normal life rather than potentially watching you lose all your memories." A lump formed in my throat as I said that.

She threw her head back and let out a long groan. "You don't have to sacrifice your dream just to protect me, okay!?"

"Oi! It's the middle of the night!" A voice came through the wall.

We both winced. I took the opportunity to speak before she could. "The difference is…I don't even know if this will even lead to where I need to go. You…you need this. There's no other way that you can think of right?"

Kimiko brought her knees up to her chin and sat in silence for a few moments. She took a deep breath before speaking. "Why are you willing to throw away everything for me?"

_I stared out at the setting sun as the tower crumbled around me, the blonde girl smiling brightly. "Because you're my friend. I think that's a good enough excuse."_

"Because you're my friend." I repeated simply.

She shook her head in disbelief. "You're unbelievable."

"Well you're willing to gamble away your memories in a duel." I pointed out.

"True…" She sighed. "But I guess it's something else other than just friendship…" Immediately, my mind jumped to conclusions. I looked at her, waiting for the answer, but a sly smile appeared on her face. "I know you're going to ask what…so I'll tell you, if you beat me in the duel."

"That's just cruel…" My heart felt like it was going a hundred miles an hour.

Kimiko sighed. "Well, either way, we have our final exams before the Four Empire Tournament. If we both get into the final three, you won't have to worry about losing anything if you do lose…except that now."

I nodded. I had almost forgot about the final exams, focusing more on the final goal rather than hurdle I had to overcome first. A yawn escaped me. "Fine…I promise to go all out, in that duel. No matter if we're in the final three or not."

"And the Tournament?" She looked at me with a piercing gaze.

"No promises there…take it or leave it."

She rolled her eyes. "I guess it's better than nothing." She stood up, ready to go to bed. "Even if you don't go all out though in the Tournament, I'm going to, and I don't know if I'll be able to go stop short."

"Don't they use real swords in the Tournament?" I frowned.

"Not anymore. Two years ago, there was an accident." She gave me a smirk. "So I'm pretty sure you can take a few jabs from a training sword."

I smiled. "A small price to pay."

"You'd have a lot more to pay if you don't…" She went into her room before I could respond.

I sighed and looked back up to the moon outside the window, the ghostly light illuminating the room. I picked up the trainee jacket off the sofa and placed it on the hook again. The book that Kimiko was reading, I put back on the shelf.

I went back into my room, removing my shirt and lay down on my bed. The moonlight wasn't exactly allowing me to sleep. I just stared at the ceiling for a while. I knew the next few weeks would be the most intense fights of my life…at least that I knew of.

* * *

**So...I guess my biggest worry is that I haven't communicated Light's changing mindset well enough. I wanted to try to show his hesitation in going for a win. Last chapter, he was talked into keeping his promise, but after experiencing what Kimiko's memory loss was like for her, we reached a point where he can't keep his promise. Or will he? Who knows. We'll have to see how it all pans out.**

**Part 2 has come to a close. I guess the first part would be the "beginnings and journey" arc, now it's the "relationship building" arc. Next will be the "tournament" arc. Prepare for a lot of battles...and some farewells for some characters. I hope you'll stick around.**

**Reviews:**

**blackbutterfly1313: Thank you. I think the pacing can be a bit quick at times, but thanks. Hopefully as we got into Part 3, I'll keep it up :)**

**That's all for now. I'll see you all in Part 3. Hope I can keep up this pace (reading some of blackbutterfly1313's fanfic helped give me motivation today, so if you have the chance, check out her fanfic. It's really good).**

**Until next time, Stay Cool.**


	23. 22: A Net to Catch you

**So then, time to wrap up some loose ends before we head towards the combat. Fair warning, because of the nature of the combat, chapters might take longer to come out because I want every fight to feel fresh, not just the same fight over and over again. So it'll likely take some time to write out each fight. Anyway, see you at the bottom.**

* * *

Chapter 22

A Net to Catch you

I swung my sword upwards at the underside of Luna's rapier, knocking it upwards and leaving her front wide open. A small smile slipped as she drew her rapier towards her body into a defensive position. I pressed my attack, the dull sound of the wood smacking against wood ringing against the walls with every strike I made towards her. She was being pushed back.

Something was off though. She was letting me push her back too much. Before, she would at least try to attack back…

I put some force into my next strike, knocking her rapier to the side. I went with the momentum of my swing, spinning around to her open side and swinging for that.

One second, a boot heel was in my face. The next, I had been knocked to the ground, head dazed and ringing.

"Are you okay?" Luna leaned over me, looking concerned.

"Yeah…just give me a second." Partly due to my head, partly to figure out what Luna had done.

Luna poked me in the side with her rapier. "I win."

I smiled a little. "Yeah…yeah you did."

Luna raised her arms into the air, letting out a cry of victory. I had barely sat up before I was knocked back down, Luna wrapping her arms around my neck and laughing. Her glee was contagious, and I couldn't help but feel happy for her, making me forget about the pain in my cheek. I could feel her trembling, the adrenaline rushing through her. I wrapped an arm around her back. For the briefest moment, I thought I felt her heartbeat speed up, but it quickly returned to a normal pace.

"Can I be a little selfish?" Luna's voice was so quiet, I barely caught it. "Can we stay here…for a little while longer?"

I nodded. "Sure."

Luna closed her eyes and tightened her grip around my neck. The room became still, and the moment stretched on for a lot longer than it actually was. It was nice. But that feeling of happiness soon faded when I heard her sobbing.

"What's wrong?" I removed my arm from her back and shifted myself so I could look at her properly. Luna moved off me, sitting alongside me. Her cheeks were bright red and her eyes looked puffy, though no tears had fallen.

"I thought I'd be able to keep it in. But I guess win the fight finally overwhelmed me." She pulled a handkerchief out of her pocket and blew her nose. "Sorry…I…" She took a deep breath. "I might never see you again after the Tournament…and you've done so much for me. If it weren't for you, I would've never gotten this far. I would still be that…brat that would've gone to die if she ever stepped foot in the Dark Territory."

I felt a pang of guilt to my heart. It was true, I would be leaving her behind. But I smiled, standing up and offering Luna a hand. She took it and I lifted her up. "Well, you could always follow me. If I get there that is."

She nodded. "If you win, I'll follow you…but if not…y-you're welcome t-to…" Her voice trailed off. I let her take her time to finish. She drew in a breath and closed her eyes tight. "You'rewelcometocometomyhouseandstay!" Somehow the shade of her cheeks deepened. Any redder, and I thought she would overheat.

The invitation surprised me. A while ago, while waiting to apply to the Swordcraft Academy, I had done some reading on the traditions of the Human Empire. So I knew what Luna was asking. She wanted me to become part of the Regal family, and because I was older, would be taking over the household in place of her.

But a commoner taking over a noble household? It was unheard of. Practically laughed at. Luna was ready to uproot the entire noble structure. So I put a hand on her shoulder and looked dead in her eyes. "You sure about this?"

She nodded. "Yeah. The way I see it, my parents were perfectly content with setting me up to fail and possibly send me to my death. Most people would let me win out of fear of repercussion or tear me down, happy to leave me at my lowest point just because I'm a noble. You tore down the weaker parts of me and built me up stronger than I had been before. And…the least I can do is give you a good future should you fall." She waved her hands in front of her. "Not that I expect you to fall."

"I know." I took a step towards her and embraced her. "Thank you." She smiled and returned the hug.

It made giving up in the Four Empire Tournament more tempting at the very least.

* * *

I stepped out of the training hall, sword at my side, when a fist collided with my jaw. I was sent spiralling to the ground, landing hard on my shoulder. I winced in pain, standing up properly and drawing my sword.

"You? Becoming a noble? Don't make me laugh." Diaz spat at me, the thick liquid hitting my eye and blinding me for a moment. And that moment was all he needed to punch me again.

"STOP IT!" A scream came from the training hall. I wiped the spit from my face to see Luna standing between me and Diaz. Being a lower ranked noble, Diaz couldn't touch Luna without serious consequences…or that should've been the case. He grabbed her shoulder and pushed her to the side before raising a fist at me. Luna's interference gave me time to catch my bearings however. According to the Taboo Index, I couldn't hurt a noble directly. But it said nothing about indirectly. I ducked under his punch, which he had put way too much power into. Missing made him stumble forwards, his stomach slamming into my couched back, and sent him tumbling over me. He landed on the ground, straight on his back.

I sheathed my sword and immediately went over to Luna who was curled up on the ground. "Are you okay?"

"No, I'm fuming." Luna sat up, her whole body shaking and a flame of pure rage in her eyes, which she quickly directed straight at Diaz. "What the hell was that!? It's completely against the Taboo Index to attack another person unprovoked!" It occurred to me that it should be impossible to attack someone anyway. _That wording is sneaky._ "And on top of that, you attack a first ranked noble."

"You aren't a noble. Not anymore." Diaz returned her anger with a gaze filled with a fury I had never known. "You're going to bring a commoner into nobility? And him no less!? It's absolutely ridiculous!" His voice seemed to be raising with every word.

A loud bang came from the entrance and Mr Galsworthy stormed towards us. He picked Diaz up by the scruff of his neck, standing him up straight, before walking over to Luna and lifting her up by her arm. "Both of you, to my office. Elite Disciple Light, you will head back to your dorm immediately."

"But sir-"

"He started-"

The air suddenly seemed to violently stir around Mr Galsworthy. "Do I make myself clear?" His voice was soft, but his tone held so much anger behind it. I didn't want to tempt that anger. It seemed to shake my soul. I bowed and headed straight to the dorms while Luna went to the office.

I headed inside, seeing Kimiko and Becchi studying Sacred Arts. I headed straight into my room to not disturb them. I sat on my bed and waited as seconds seemed to drag on. Seeing Mr Galsworthy with that aura of pure rage was terrifying. Even the air around him seemed terrified to be near him. I couldn't understand why, or why he dragged Luna away. She hadn't done anything wrong as far as I could see.

I clutched my cheek as it began to throb with pain. I couldn't lie, Diaz had one hell of a right hook. But why did he attack me…and how?

My mind wandered back to the days that I lost Myne. Everything I could think of was blocked by the existence of the Taboo Index. But being clobbered in the face just now…it made me think about it more. If there was some way to bend the rules without breaking them. And then it might narrow down who had taken Myne…

I shook my head. No. Even if I figured out who had taken her, it was far too late to go looking. She would be long gone, and I couldn't go looking without breaking my promise to Kimiko. It…almost tore me apart inside because I hadn't realised that I had given up. Hell, the fact that Myne rarely even entered my mind except when I picked up that sword…it felt wrong. I lay back on my bed, my heart torn in two. Because before she disappeared, I did start to love her. Slowly though, I had begun to forget her.

The door opened and Luna stepped inside. She took a deep breath before sitting down. "I never thought I'd see Mr Galsworthy so angry."

"What happened?"

She shrugged. "Apparently Diaz couldn't see me as a noble anymore due to inviting a commoner to my household, and because your status as either a commoner or a noble is now in flux, you're not technically either, so neither the rules for commoners or nobles apply to you. At least, that's the reason Mr Galsworthy thought of. Because Diaz shouldn't be able to attack either of us like that."

I nodded. "Yeah, I couldn't work it out, but I guess that makes sense."

"It's not like you're a part of the household yet, only if you have nowhere else to go should you somehow lose during the Tournament." Luna frowned. "Not that you will lose, right?"

I shrugged. "If I lose, it'll be for a reason."

A sad smile appeared on her lips. "Yeah…I know."

I sat up. "Right, now that that's all sorted, what do you want?"

"Huh?"

"Our deal was if you hit me, you'd get something."

Luna's eyes widened. "Oh! I had completely forgot…" She began to think. "Okay…stand up."

I did so. She slipped her arms underneath mine and link them behind my back. I couldn't help but smile. "Really? Is that all you want?"

"To me, this is priceless…" She muttered under her breath, barely loud enough for me to hear it.

"You didn't have to win a bet for this you know." I raised my arms, placed one hand on the small of her back and the other on the back of her head.

"Wouldn't have been worth it then."

My heart was warmed by her comment. I knew out of everyone in the Swordcraft Academy, I would miss her the most in the week we have before heading to the Tournament. But at least a few days would be spent with her while I prepared for the Advancement Exam.

Luna unlinked her hands from behind my back and smiled. "Right! I should get on with cleaning. Hopefully Becchi hasn't taken the cloth again."

I nodded. "Well, I've got to help you get ready for your Advancement Exam right?"

"I mean, the only thing I struggle with is Sacred Arts, and you're not exactly great at those."

I grimaced at her comment, because it was true. "Right. Well, maybe we can go see an instructor or something." The fact that I couldn't cast Sacred Arts was a little bothersome.

"Yeah. I'll be working extra hard for the last few days." Luna gave me the brightest smile I've seen on her face.

* * *

**So, very soon we'll be saying goodbye to Luna. Maybe for a short time, maybe for a while. Who knows. Well, I do, but that's not the point. I wanted her to fulfil her dream of hitting Light, to have her journey come to an end...at least for now. Also, it shows that Light can lose a fight, which he hasn't really done up to this point. Then again, people like Lord Grant were holding back. ****And I haven't forgotten about Myne. Heck, I have something planned involving her in the future. **

**Reviews:**

**dndkeg: Glad you're looking forward to it. Hope I can deliver XD**

**blackbutterfly1313: No problem, I really enjoy your fanfic and I'm sure many others would. I'm not a genius though, it just takes a lot of time to write, hence why the next lot of chapters will likely have a long break in between. And yeah, one day we'll get to the end hopefully XD**

**ZelotArchon: Thank you for your kind words. Glad you're enjoying. I'll get around to No Land Beyond some day...maybe. God it's taken a long time to actually start that up. But thanks, I hope I can deliver when I actually write it.**

**Something I do want to address. Now Lycoris has released, a lot of my fanfic has been contradicted by the game. But I won't be changing any details from Nightshade to fit with Lycoris. For example, the Wesdarath Empire will still have Vetal at the edge, where the Ravine is in game (trying not to spoil anything).**

**As always, thank you all for reading. And thanks for all the reviews. Until next time, Stay Cool.**


	24. 23: On the Road to Home

**This didn't take long at all, but then again, we haven't gotten to the duels yet. Still debating whether I should dedicate an entire chapter to each duel, but then again, some duels will take more time than others.**

**Eh, I'll talk about it more at the bottom. Enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 23

On the Road to Home

The wooden training dummy bounced back towards me, and I struck at it again, the force from my sword knocking it away from me again. I continued this routine of knocking the dummy back and forth, focusing my strikes at the arms and waist, harder areas to defend while in a swordfight. I tried to focus on speed and accuracy, making sure my strikes would hit where I aimed while doing it as fast as possible.

My speed began to increase with the heaviness of my breathing, smacking the dummy from side to side, making it wobble. I flourished my blade, rotated it in my palm so the point aimed for the centre of mass. The blade glowed gold, recognising my move, and I slashed at the dummy. The wooden stick that had been straining under my hits finally snapped, and the dummy went tumbling away.

I began panting, using the training sword as a support. I doubled over, my heart feeling like it was about to leap out of my chest. Wiping away the sweat with my sleeve, I managed to stand up straight and let out a groan. _I overdid it. Mr Galsworthy is going to kill me if I can't repair this._

I grabbed the dummy and tried to line it up with the splintered stump in the ground. I let out a sigh as I couldn't repair it without a Sacred Art. I grabbed a bandage and began wrapping it around the fracture. It wasn't perfect, but it was the best I could do.

In an hour, I would be in Norlangarth. I just wanted to get a bit of a warmup ready for the event. After all, I knew this would be an incredibly hard challenge to overcome. And it wasn't even the final hurdle. If I was going to fight Kimiko, and possibly Diaz, and in the future, the best of each Empire, I needed to be at my best.

"Light? Are you seriously still practising?"

Footsteps came from behind me. Luna's hand reached out towards the training dummy, muttering a Sacred Art for the metallic element. A metal band wrapped around the bandage, finally reuniting the two parts. I smiled at her. "Sorry, I went a little overboard." I scratched the back of my head.

She shook her head. "Never mind that, we should get going."

The bell rang out for the final hour before the final Advancement Exam. I took a deep breath. "Right, I need to hand in my Night Shadow Blade." I walked toward the purple blade and sheathed it on my belt. "Ready to go?" Luna nodded.

The carriages were parked outside the front of the Academy. We both go in one and soon it was on its way to Norlangarth.

A giddy excitement began to build in my stomach, as well as an overwhelming nervousness. My stomach felt like it was twisting itself in knots. I wondered for a second if this was how Lord Grant felt. After all, he was dead serious that day, an emotion he rarely expressed. I could see Luna looking at me with concern, which I had likely done that tipped him off that I had noticed his change. And probably in a year's time, she'd be in my position, realising all of this too.

"You okay?" Luna asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. Just a little nervous. There's quite a bit of pressure today."

She smiled. "I bet…"

"Will you be sticking around Norlangarth afterwards?" I knew that Wesdarath and Norlangarth students could watch the other Academy's duels.

She nodded again. "I'd like to see the people you're up against in the finals."

"Yeah." My mind flashed back to Eldrie, and I wondered if he would be one of my opponents during the Four Empire Unification Tournament. He certainly had the will and determination to get there.

"I saw Kimiko this morning." Luna relaxed and looked out the window. "She looked terrified. Though I could tell she was ready to take you on. She'll be tough."

"Yeah."

"But…if it means anything, I believe in you." Her cheeks tinted a little.

The knots in my stomach eased a little. "It means a lot, thanks."

The rest of the journey was sat in silence, the jiggling of the carriage driving over the paving stones acting as white noise. Soon enough, the carriage stopped at the gate to the Sword Mastery Academy. I opened the door, letting Luna step out first.

The familiar air of Norlangarth hit me again. The bright green fields and forests around the Academy had become a familiar sight thanks to the amount of times I'd been up here. The voices of various students began to fill the air, a cheerful tone shared mostly by all.

"Oh man, I'm gonna miss it. I've got homework."

"You'd think Wesdarath would've made their own arena by now."

"Oi, Eugeo, wait up!"

"We'll be late. I can't wait to see them fight."

I followed Luna up the stone pathway, getting various looks from some of the students there, probably mostly due to my sword.

"I'll see you later then." Luna bowed before running towards the queue of trainees heading into the duelling hall. I went up to a side entrance where Elite Disciples were going. I saw an instructor at the door, which unfortunately wasn't Ms Azurica from last year.

"I'm supposed to deliver this to an instructor before heading in." I said, unsheathing my sword.

The instructor nodded. "Report to Ms Azurica after the matches have concluded to retrieve your sword then." She took the sword from me and would've ended up dropping it if I didn't grab the grip. I helped her put it against the wall before heading in.

To say tensions were high inside the room was an understatement. It was almost tempting to scare someone so everyone would start freaking out. The thought made me smile at least, which was good. I couldn't share the tension that everyone else had. If I did, it would cause mistakes in the actual duels.

The names for the starting duels had already been picked it seemed. I looked to see where I was. Instantly I saw Kimiko's name was right at the start. I let out a sigh of relief as my name wasn't in the first third. In fact, it was right at the end. Which meant I wouldn't face her until the very final match. The idea of going all out against her in the final match of the day was…exciting. Then I realised something worrying. If he won, Diaz was going to be my second match. I would have to knock him out of the running to the finals.

_I have to win this though. I have to win them all. Otherwise I can't keep my promise._

"You make a better door than a window." I turned to see Kimiko standing behind me. I went to sit down so I could let her see the board. I watched her go to the opposite side of the room, a small smile on her face. She must've realised the same thing as me then. I knew why she didn't follow me to the corner I was in, not wanting to get too friendly before the fight. It would cause both of us to relax too much.

An instructor entered the room, clipboard in hand. "Now everyone's here, we can begin to go over the rules for the event." She flicked over the first piece of paper. "The tournament uses stop short rules using training weapons. It's best if you all avoid contact as much as possible to allow future matches to take place." I smiled a little, knowing she was referring to Lord Grant. "Any Sacred Arts are allowed, taking care not to affect the crowd. Any Sword Arts are allowed, adhering to rule one." She let the clipboard rest at her side. "Any questions?" The room was silent. The instructor nodded. "First match will be Kimiko and Bartlett. If you would both follow me to the duelling hall."

I saw Kimiko stand up on the other side of the room, breathing slowly. I didn't doubt she'd win this match. After all, it was Bartlett. He was a good swordsman, but next to Kimiko, he might as well be flailing around. Still, it was only natural for me to worry.

I had a while to wait until my match, being last on the list and four other matches between mine and Kimiko's. I leaned back on the bench and sighed.

My eyes began to drop…

* * *

"_Come on, you're not even trying at this point."_

_I could barely see her behind the constant stream of sweat down my face. I wiped it away, but in that second, she had darted towards me, slamming into my stomach and sending me flying back onto the golden sand._

"_Distractions like sweat is one of the things that will easily get you killed in a fight. Put up with it."_

_I got up, my lungs on fire from sucking in the tropical air. I readied myself for her incoming attack. She ran towards me, dropping low and scooping up a handful of sand. Instinctively, I prepared to cover my eyes, only to receive a gut punch. I doubled over, and a boot soon smacked into my forehead._

_The night sky above me twinkled in and out of focus. I took in several deep breaths, attempting to force my vision to sharpen, but it seemed to only pull me further into unconsciousness._

_A shadow appeared above, though I couldn't make out any clear features. I pointed up at her and smiled. "I almost had you…"_

"_Over my dead body. Or yours it seems at the moment." She sighed. The shadow began bigger as weight was added to my chest. "So now your completely unable to defend yourself on the enemy ship. Normally you'd be run through with a sword at-"_

"_I doubt anyone else is as good as you at hand-to-hand combat." I shrugged._

"_You never know." I could make out the mischievous smile on her face. "But because I won't kill you…"_

_I suddenly felt her fingers dig into my side. I couldn't contain my laughter as she began tickling me. I couldn't muster the strength to push her off me. Tears began to stream down my face as she continued her attack._

"_Oi! You two, it's the middle of the night!" A male voice came from the ship docked nearby._

"_Then why are you still logged in!?" She yelled back._

"_Someone needs to check we have all the gunpowder and cannonballs we need!"_

_I opened my eyes to see her fully in focus finally. Most of her face was in shadow thanks to her long brown hair falling on either side of her face, but I could still see those sea green eyes that were almost hypnotising in their beauty._

_She wore a softer smile as she looked at me. "If you're going to continue to look at me like that, you're going to make me blush." The weight disappeared off my chest as she got off me and offered a hand. "Come on, that's enough for tonight. Isn't it like five in the morning where you are right now?"_

_I took her hand. "I told you, I don't sleep anymore." I was lifted to my feet, feeling the soft sand between my toes. "I'll do better tomorrow Kristina."_

"_You better. I don't put this amount of effort in for anyone else."_

* * *

I woke from my dream, confused. I blinked several times to make sure I was actually in the waiting room for the upcoming match. I ended up rubbing my forehead to make sure there wasn't a mark there. The dream…it felt so real.

"Julian and Light." The instructor called. It took me a second to realise I had slept all the way until the start of my match.

I hated that I didn't have time to ponder on my dream. I felt like a hole was being torn in my chest again.

_It must've been a memory. The feeling of the sand beneath my feet. That girl. That numbing pain that came when she kicked my in the face. It's all too real to not be._

I stood up and walked over to the instructor who lead me and Julian towards the duelling hall. Immediately I felt the adrenaline pumping through my veins as the crowd clapped to welcome us onto the stage. As I passed the entrance, I picked out a training sword and headed into the centre of the room.

From what I knew, Julian wasn't exactly an exceptional swordsman, but was incredible at dodging and weaving around his opponents, which in a one hit duel scenario could be deadly. All you needed was one hit. For my first duel of the day, this was going to be a challenge.

_Sorry Julian. I've got a promise to keep._

He seemed rather tense. His breathing was rather heavy. I looked him in the eye as we shook hands to see if there was any sign of nervousness, but if there was, he was very good at hiding it. I took a few steps away from him as Ms Azurica stepped between us.

"The match between Elite Disciple Julian and Elite Disciple Light will now begin."

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up as the crowd cheered in anticipation. I sucked in a few deep breaths to control my adrenaline levels. I place my fist on my heart, the customary swordsman salute.

Ms Azurica took a few steps back and raised her hand. I drew my blade and got ready in my stance.

_It's time…_

* * *

**When I went into this chapter, I didn't expect to be doing another flashback to Light's past. But it was definitely one I've been wanting to do for a while, and will explain some of the more...interesting moves he'll do during his duels. Plus, Kristina is a character that I've been waiting to mention again for a while, as she's basically responsible for the majority of the Beyond Style's actual move set.**

**So, depending on what I decide, I don't actually know if I'll just have the next two duels be separate chapters, or maybe combine them. If there is two, then chapters will take obviously that's going to take a while to write, and the chapter will be very long. But if I separate them, it'll likely be two shorter chapters but written quicker. I'll probably end up deciding when I'm actually writing.**

**Reviews:**

**blackbutterfly1313: Thank you again. I hope there's been plenty of character, as this "final" part probably will contain less character moments and more duels, but hopefully I'll deliver on those well enough to make up for it. I mainly wanted to get the notion out there that the nobles can still bend the Taboo Index if they want to, because I've kind of shied away from that side of the nobility. But who knows, maybe Light might end up bending them.**

**Anyway, this chapter will probably be the last for a while if I decide to combine them. Maybe I should get back to Fatal Bullet Rewrite too. I've neglected that for a long time. Anyway, hope you enjoyed. And as always, Stay Cool.**


	25. 24: Climbing the Stairs

**I packed a little more than I thought I would into this chapter, so I decided to split the two duels into two chapters. Otherwise, I'd basically be putting two chapters into one. See you at the bottom.**

* * *

Chapter 24

Climbing the Stairs

From seeing Julian in duels before during the Advancement Exam, he made his battles that of attrition. He would wear down his opponent by constantly dodging their attacks, until they were too tired to perform at their best, and then he'll strike. It was an effective strategy, something that would be perfect for a one on one duel like the one we were engaged in right now. Unfortunately for him, I knew in a head to head duel, he was…quite frankly rubbish. All he knew was how to dodge the strikes, but countering them? He had no chance.

I had to make this duel as short as possible. The longer it went on, the more tired I would get from trying to hit him and make mistakes that would cost me. And I needed to force him into a head on duel. That was the key to winning this fight.

Speed was one of my strong suites.

I pushed my weight onto my toes, extending my right arm to the side, and then leaping towards Julian. I swung in a wide arc, a perfect parallel line to the floor. Julian threw himself backwards, away from the slash. I knew he was going to do this, and took another step forward, performing the same motion but in the opposite direction.

_If I force him back to the walls, he won't have anywhere to go and will be forced to engage. That's my chance._

However, Julian had this twinkle in his eye that worried me. It's almost like he knew this was my plan. Of course he did, it was the only way I could theoretically beat him.

I took another swing at Julian, and his back was against the wall. I drew my sword back and thrust the point of my sword at his neck. He ducked down and readied his own strike aimed at my legs.

It was the perfect bait.

I twisted my sword so the edge was pointed downwards and dropped my sword downwards at his shoulder. With the time it took him to aim properly at my knees, my blade would already be in position to hit his shoulder and win the duel.

I didn't expect him to roll out of the way, causing me to overbalance and fall against the wall. His roll didn't put him in a position to retaliate, but I couldn't follow up. He took a few steps towards the middle of the room, and we were in the same position as we started.

_He's a slippery bastard._ I took a deep breath and began to think of a new strategy.

A few ideas ran through my head. All of them had to do with stopping him for a few seconds. I couldn't use Sacred Arts, otherwise I'd use a flash of light to stun him and get an easy hit in. The only good idea that I could use would take some serious acting on my part. I remembered during training with Lord Grant, he would make me use Sword Arts. After every one, I would feel my muscles tense up for a few seconds.

It was all about baiting him into using one while not letting him on that I was baiting him.

Julian knew some Sword Arts. He used them as a finishing blow against his opponents. So I needed to convince him that I could be finished off.

_At least I have a better game plan than just try and back him against the wall._

I let a smile slip, and immediately that twinkle of certainty that was in Julian's eyes faded. He had obviously expected me to be a little downtrodden by that little exchange.

I launched myself at him, aiming at his centre mass. I started out with concise, quick strikes, knowing he'd have to work harder to dodge them. This time, he refused to back towards the wall, instead aiming to just dodge from side to side. It was kind of impressive how flexible he was with his back; bending backwards and ducking around my blade. I tried my best to force him backwards, but it wasn't working.

_Screw it, time to switch it up._

I gripped the sword with both hands and began doing the same motions. It was small, but it can be a sign of someone starting to wear down. And as I guess, he noticed it too, the twinkle returning.

_Not yet…it's too early._

I took a moment to observe the reaction of the crowd. Most looked confused, wondering why I was just repeating the same strikes. But a few saw through it. It made me worry for a second that Julian might be able to see through it too, but the twinkle hadn't faded.

Very subtly, I began to artificially insert mistakes into my routine. I began to overswing slightly, a common sign of fatigue, and I toned down my speed a little. That was a great change of pace, because even though I was acting, my muscles were beginning to ache a little. And it was working. That look in Julian's eyes only intensified.

I raised my sword over my head and went for a massive swing, an imitation of the High Norkian Style's Mountain Splitting Wave. Julian dodged to the left, making my swing miss wildly. I heard the crowd muttering at my mistake.

As I predicted, this was when Julian made his move. His blade rested against his back and glowed a deep crimson as he jumped towards me. He was using a Sword Art which quickly covered ground, and it was aimed right at my exposed back.

_Checkmate._

"_Remember boy, this technique is great in a pinch, but that's it's only real advantage. To surprise an opponent with a quick turn around."_

My sword glowed green as I turned on my heel, sweeping my foot around. At the same time, I brought my sword up to aim straight at Julian's sword. Green and red collided, smashing together in a beautiful light show, before red faded, snapping straight down the middle.

Baltio Style, Storm Wave.

Julian was thrown backwards, the two pieces of his sword spiralling in the air. He landed with a dull thud, the sword pieces clattering to the floor soon after. I did a little flourish with my sword before returning it to my sheath.

The crowd cheered for my victory. I did a small bow before walking over to Julian, offering a hand. His face split into a wide grin as he took it. "Damnit, I thought I had you there."

I returned the smile and lifted him up. _Not in a million years…_

I walked into the waiting room to the knowing smile of Kimiko and the glare of Diaz. I put the used sword back on the rack and got a fresh one ready for the next match, quickly checking its Life to see if anyone had accidently placed it in the wrong rack.

"What, are you expecting someone to have tampered with it?" Diaz grumbled from across the room.

Almost on cue, my cheek began to throb a little. "Accidents happen."

"Even if we wanted to, it's against the school rules to interfere knowingly with the tournament equipment."

I bit the inside of my cheek. Because supposedly assault was against the Taboo Index, but he managed it. I sheathed the sword on my belt, inwardly shrugging.

Kimiko stood up with another student, ready for her match. I gave her a small smile for good luck before she stepped outside, which left me with Diaz and the two other students.

I sat down back in my corner, letting the adrenaline of the previous fight drain from my bloodstream. I leant my head back against the wall, almost wanting to fall back into that same dream again, to slowly piece together the parts of my past that were missing, like who called out to me and that girl called Kristina.

I was at a point where I wanted to know more…

But I was throwing it all away for Kimiko.

I squeezed my eyes shut as tightly as possible and lightly shook my head. _This isn't the time, not now._ I slowed my breathing, relaxing myself.

_Where was that place? With the sand, and the sea air? It tasted like salt. There's nowhere like that in the Wesdarath Empire. In fact, I don't think it's anywhere in the Human Empire. There's only the lakes in Sothercrois. But the books in the libraries don't describe a sea like that. In fact, where would I even know the word "sea" from? If it doesn't exist in the Human Empire, I shouldn't know it._

The right side of my head began to hurt…

Then a thousand voices began to ring out inside my head.

* * *

"Your Eminence, the Senate has picked up something interesting."

Her eyelashes trembled before parting, revealing two silver mirrors for eyes, with a glimmer of curiosity. "Was there another anomaly that needs fixing? If so, send one of the puppets to pick them up. One of them should be interested in an assignment by now."

"It would be best if your Grace would see this for yourself. It's a rather unusual case."

* * *

I sucked in a deep breath, my right eye twitching a little. I put my hand up to it, feeling it under my eyelid to confirm it wasn't gone. For a second, it almost felt like the entire right side of my head had exploded.

I took a moment, my right temple feeling rather numb right now. All the pain that had been there was gone as quickly as it came. I sighed, leaning back again. Luckily, no one in the room seemed to have noticed. I wouldn't have liked it if Diaz had seen anything…

* * *

The Ocean Turtle sat in silence. Then, for the briefest of seconds, the lights flickered, died, and turned back on.

* * *

**Well then, that was certainly a fun duel to write. Something I see often is that the fights in Alicization are too short. In anime form, they can be, but written out like in the Light Novels, 30 seconds in anime can translate to a thousand words. Plus, duels in real life don't take too long anyway, so it kind of makes sense when a duel is over in a couple of hits.**

**Next up will be the duel between Light and Diaz. I hopefully won't take too long to write the next chapter. I've been hit with a wave of motivation thanks to my wonderful new girlfriend. And speaking of...**

**Reviews:**

**blackbutterfly1313: I hope I can continue to intrigue for you. It's been a work in progress for a very long time :)**

**I'll see you all in the next one (I'm purposely not talking about parts of this chapter because got to keep that mystery up XD). As always, Stay Cool.**


	26. 25: The Roar of the Crowd

**Back with another chapter. I'm glad that I can keep this momentum going, even if the chapters are a little shorter. But I enjoyed writing this one.**

**See you at the bottom.**

* * *

Chapter 25

The Roar of the Crowd

I swallowed the lump in my throat, looking at my opponent. Already there seemed to be an aura of rage emanating from him, ready to explode right at me.

Apart from my own duel with him, I never really paid attention to Diaz. But Lord Grant's words began to echo in my head. _"The Loafian style is designed to wear down an opponent before delivering a final blow. You'll be placed in a test of endurance."_ My first duel with Diaz ended rather quickly due to the accident that happened. But now we weren't surrounded by people we could hurt, which was both a blessing and a curse. I didn't have to hold back at all…but neither did he.

The sounds of Ms. Azurica introducing us was muffled as I took in a deep breath. The crowd's muttering became white noise.

_Let's end this silly little rivalry right now._

I held my sword at my side, removing my heels from the floor. Diaz narrowed his eyes as he pointed the tip of his sword towards me. A cold bead of sweat ran down the left side of my face. It clung to my skin for a brief second.

Then the match started.

I pushed off the ground, taking two steps forward before swinging my sword around towards Diaz. He took a step backwards, leaning back so the tip of my blade barely missed. He raised his sword to bring it down on my head. I smiled slightly as I let go of the grip and caught the sword with my other hand, immediately changing the momentum of the sword to swing back towards Diaz's stomach. He instantly had to make the choice between retreating or continuing the swing and forfeit the match. Unfortunately for me, he chose the former, throwing himself backwards and out of reach.

I took a moment to change my sword back to my dominant hand, not stopping myself from feeling a little bit proud of the fact Diaz looked a little surprised at my quick turnaround. That soon turned to anger however, and he began his assault.

He gripped his sword with both hands, resting his sword on his shoulder and took a huge stride towards me, swinging at me with all his strength. With that speed, I wouldn't simply be able to dodge it by moving backwards. I ducked underneath the swing, sweeping my leg into his. He fell onto his side. I used my momentum to put power into my overhead swing, which I brought down onto where Diaz laid. To my surprise, the only thing that the sword hit was the hard, wooden floor, sending a shock straight back into arm. I felt my fingers protest against gripping my sword, but I managed to hold onto it, taking a moment to breathe while I figured out how a man of Diaz's size managed to roll away so quickly.

The room rumbled with cheers. I shook the shock out of my arm, Diaz standing ready for me. He had that cocky smirk back on his face, probably thanks to the momentum of the crowd turning to his favour. That aura that he had at the beginning seemed to intensify. He was feeding off the crowd.

It suddenly clicked for me. The reason he had gathered such a huge crowd for our duel, the reason he tried to pick a fight in the lunch hall…and the reason he stopped during the second year. He wanted the crowd to see him. He craved the attention. He can feed off it to empower himself.

Not going to lie, for a second, I became discouraged. If this fight continued to go this way, he would only get more momentum. And with the Loafian Style's tactics, it would surely spell doom for me.

Behind him, up in the crowd, I saw Luna sat there next to Becchi. She was watching me with an intense gaze, paying attention to every move I made. That was enough to make any form of doubt wash away.

I took a deep breath and prepared to strike again. Diaz's smirk disappeared, and his aura seemed to falter a little. He raised his sword over his head, mimicking a traditional High Norkian Style single hit Sword Art.

I extended my left leg, bending the right to lower my centre of gravity. My sword was at shoulder height, parallel to the ground. The blade portion began to glow gold. I felt my heartbeat quicken and I sucked in breath, feeling the energy building up in my sword. My muscles felt like they were burning.

"Let's end this."

I leapt forward, the energy built up sending me forward. At the same time, Diaz slammed his right foot forward to send his blade forth with more power. I brought my sword around the front and the two wooden blades clashed.

The energy from each of our strikes seemed to shake the very air around us, static electricity crackling from the two blades grinding against each other. Gold and red sparks flew from the point of contact.

I gritted my teeth. After all the pain from unleashing the Sword Art, the absolute power behind Diaz's strike was almost too much to handle. It almost felt like my arms were being torn apart and the skin was going to split. But despite that, the raw power in my own strike was keeping Diaz's sword at bay.

It was almost enough to break me…

"_Don't break."_

That voice came back to me.

"_You stood at the Crown of Infinity and lived. Nothing will break you, as long as you have a reason to fight."_

"I won't let you win this time!" Diaz's voice came from the other side of the sword lock.

"Sorry…" My arms were at their limit, and my legs couldn't support me much longer. "But I've been through far worse than you!"

A surge of strength came from within me, and I used it to push back against him. My sword slid down to his crossguard. All the built up energy was expended, and I used the last of my strength to push up. Diaz was forced onto his backfoot. I broke the sword lock with one last push, and knocked his sword out of the way, throwing his sword up and behind him.

I grabbed his jacket with my left hand, wrapping the fabric around my fist. I extended my sword arm, and pulled as hard as I could. Diaz stumbled forwards, completely off balance, and his gut met the edge of the sword. His body folded around the blade, ripping it from my hand, before collapsing to the ground.

"That's the match!"

It was kind of incredible how quickly who the crowd was rooting for was changed. It kind of made me wonder if Diaz's first match was so impressive to them that they had forgotten my first match. But still, the cheers they gave were nice.

I looked back up at Luna. It was funny. This whole crowd cheering, and yet it was one girl's that meant the most.

It finally settled in that I can fulfil my promise to Kimiko, and I've made it one step closer to my final goal.

Behind me though…I could feel a boiling rage slowly building. I turned around to see Diaz on the floor, clutching his right eye and breathing heavily.

I took a deep breath. Even though he had been a major pain in the ass over the past two years…part of me still felt sorry for him. Another dream was shattered in the pursuit of my past. And judging by his crouched form and heavy breathing, he wasn't taking it well. I walked over to him. _If this doesn't work, I don't know what will._

I patted him on the shoulder as I walked past and said. "You gave me a run for my money there. Good fight."

His heavy breathing seemed to cease. The aura of rage seemed to soften a little. By the way he looked up at me, he seemed to still hate me, but the rage that he expected to turn to triumph was at least tempered a little.

* * *

I went into the waiting room, where I was immediately winded by Kimiko wrapping her arms around me. "I didn't doubt you, but it's nice to know you succeeded."

"Well, I had a promise to keep." I patted the back of her hair.

The only other person in the room let out a small laugh. "If you two are that close, are you sure you could actually fight each other?"

Kimiko let a cocky grin slip. "It's the opposite. It's because we're close that we can fight at our hardest."

He leaned back on the bench and smirked. "Well, don't fight too hard. Wouldn't want you to fall over from a light breeze."

Kimiko let go of me, letting me walk over to the rack and replace my sword. My muscles were still aching somewhat from using that Sword Art. She seemed to notice, looking at me worried. "You okay?"

"Yeah, just sore." I sat down, rolling my shoulders to try and loosen them up, but it only lead to more pain.

Kimiko grabbed my arm. "Hold still." She held my hand palm up and opened my Stacia Window. "Oh god…what did you do…?"

I looked at her, confused. I moved my Stacia Window so I could see what it read. Then I realised her concern. My Life had decreased to half. "How did that happen?"

Kimiko shook her head. "System Call. Generate Luminous Element." Five yellow lights appeared at her fingertips. They converged to form a larger ball in the centre of her hand. And she pressed her palm against my chest. I was too busy trying to stop my heart rate from increasing to look at the Stacia Window to confirm, but the pain began to sooth. She smiled shyly as she removed her hand. "Can't have you with a handicap. I wouldn't feel satisfied with beating you then."

"I think you missed an 'if' in there." I shot back.

Ms Azurica entered the room. "Kimiko and Aldon, you're both taking on each other first."

Kimiko let go of my arm. "I'll see you soon."

"Good luck." I nodded.

She waved as she walked to the duelling hall. I took a deep breath as I was alone. I could hear the crowd in the distance, but they might as well have been silent, because it was just background noise at this point.

_Maybe I should get some more rest…_

* * *

**Should probably mention that I know the conclusion to Diaz's duel might feel a little underwhelming, but this isn't actually the conclusion. When that will be...you'll have to wait and see. But I genuinely enjoyed writing that duel. Incorporating more of Light's physical ability as a swordsman is always a fun way to add to the duels. It's the main reason he is so physical: the duels become so much fun to write. You might say that he resembles Eiji more than Kirito. You can thank Kristina for that.**

**Reviews:**

**blackbutterfly1313: Your reviews are always too kind... :)**

**I looked at my Word document, and this story has now reached page 100. Like...that's just crazy to me. When I get round to doing the actual No Land Beyond, I know most volumes would exceed that, but spending that much time on something I'm passionate about...it's crazy. And thank you all for reading it so I can keep that passion.**

**Thank you for reading. 25 chapters, 100 pages, 54100 words and we're still nowhere near done. I hope you can stick around until the end. As always, until next time, Stay Cool.**


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